Total Drama Legends
by MarkLevins
Summary: There is a whole new season for Total Drama. Spanning over four generations, twenty two competitors will compete for not 1, not 2, not 3 but 5 million dollars. There will be laughs, there will be tears and we're here to witness it all. Right here on Total...Drama...Legends
1. Little Bitty Italy Part I

A cloaked figure stands in front of a burning campfire, tossing marshmallows into it.

"Island" he says, tossing a marshmallow, he does so after everything he says. "Action...World Tour...Revenge of the Island...All-Stars...Pahkitew Island" He then out a picture of Don from the Ridonculous Race. The figure groaned. "Ridonculous Race" He said, with an annoyance to his tone. He then tossed the picture into the fire. "Seven seasons, four generations, 87 contestants..." The figure then grabbed the top of his cloak and threw it off, revealing to be…

Chris McLean!

"...And we're here for one more. I am going to have twenty-two contestants across four generations, competing for not one, not two, not three, but five million dollars! We will be in a plane, on the camp, around the world and so much more. These guys and gals will be in the ride of their lives. This is going to be the greatest, most craziest, out of control, free for all extravaganza you will ever see in your life. Get ready because this is Total...Drama…Legends.

Chris walked onto a runway, next to him was a very large plane. It was a gray plane with four engines on each side of the wing. It had windows on its side and a picture of Chris giving a thumbs up, and winking.

"Now, most of you probably remember the Jumbo Jet was destroyed back in World Tour. But this is the new and improved, just out of the shop, state of the art, Chris McLean jumbo jet. Otherwise known as the Chris McPlane!" As soon as Chris finished a piece of metal from the wing fell onto the ground with a loud KLANG!

Chris walked into the plane and into a room. The room was gorgeous. It was laced with red carpeting, there were several yellow couches, bar stools and recliner chairs. There was a also a bar, a pool table, two TVs on the wall, a hot tub and fold out beds.

"This is where the winning team of every challenge will hang out, relax and chill." Chris laid down in the bed and sighed "Comfy"

Chris then appeared in a dimly lit bleak area, with no chairs, just a low wooden board on both sides.

"And this is where the losers will spend their time. In the loser class. And every episode, well in almost every episode, the losing team will vote out one competitor from their team."

A stream of static shot across the screen. Chris suddenly appeared in a kinda crappy potty area, with a sink, a toilet and a single window.

"And this is the confessional, where the contestants will air their grievances, share gossip or just do their business. Same old Total Drama feel. But, you might be thinking, what makes this season different than the rest?" Static.

Chris then appeared in the elimination ceremony room, that had a small bleacher area, a flower curtain, two tiki statues and a straw roof. "Well you see" Chris started "Not all episodes will happen on the plane. Some episodes will be around the world, others will be on the island, on the hollywood set and who knows where?"

Chris then appeared in front of curtain "But what's a show without its contestants...and here they are."

Chris opened the curtain, which revealed a darkly lit room. In the seats, were black bags with something stuffed in each of them. Some of the bags started moving. There was a foot sticking out one of the bags, and one of the bags wasn't even able to completely cover at least one of the really tall things inside it. The competitors were under the bags.

"First, our best original competitors" Chris started, pulling off the black bags over the competitor's heads as he spoke. "Duncan, Leshawna, Owen, Gwen, Courtney and Heather."

"Great" groaned Heather "Just when we thought you weren't demented enough, you kidnap all of us and tie us on this flying death trap."

"Hey" pointed Chris "You all signed contracts"

"Yeah" Leshawna spoke up "But I don't remember agreeing to anything like this."

"Yeah Chris" said Duncan "Even for you this is pretty messed up."

"Easy Duncan." grinned Chris "How's jail treated ya?"

"Great. Apparently it's pretty easy to get your sentence shortened, if the person who arrested you has also been in the slammer."

Chris' face went from smiling to annoyance. He walked away as Duncan laughed. But as Duncan turned, he stopped his gaze and his laugh. He stared for a few more seconds. "Hey...Gwen" He said, awkwardly.

Gwen gave an uncomfortable smile "Hello...Duncan." She turned away. Duncan continued to stare, trying to find the words to speak. Suddenly Courtney leaned forward, angrily glaring at the juvenile. Duncan quickly turned away.

"Awww, you guys are cute when you hate each other."

Both Courtney and Duncan broke their concentration and confusingly stared at Owen. Owen looked back at them.

"Oh, did I say something stupid?"

"Anyways" continued Chris "We have even more competitors. Like those that made a name for themselves in the third season of Total Drama." Again he removed the hoods as he listed the names of the next competitors. "Tyler, Noah, Alejandro and Cody."

"Ohh yeah. Let's do this. To the Extreme!" Shouted Tyler.

"I thought I smelled an eel." Noah said, looking at Alejandro.

"Be careful, my well dressed friend or you might-"

"Save it. Do anything to me, and my lawyer girlfriend will sue your a-"

"Wait a minute" interrupted Leshawna "String Bean got a girlfriend?"

"Oh yeah" Smiled Owen "They are like the cutest couple right now. Hehehe. Noah met her during the Ridonculous Race-"

Suddenly Chris appeared, pointing a finger directly in Owen's face "Don't mention that name ever...again!"

Silence

"Thank you" continued Chris "Now-"

"Wait!" Cody interrupted "If that's everyone from World Tour, then does that mean-" He started to break into a smile "does that mean that-"

"...And also Sierra" Chris quickly pulled off the hooded contestant next to Cody, to reveal the crazed fan

"Hi Cody…" she smiled, giggling. Cody just looked mortified. "Noooooo…"

**Confessional (Cody): **I thought Sierra would get over me after All-Stars. But no, it got worse. I've already gone through three different cell phone numbers and twelve email addresses. She just doesn't stop.

Sierra tried nuzzling her head against Cody, who looked on in horror. Chris cleared his throat, all eyes were on him. "The competitors don't just stop there. We also have on contestants from our fourth season, Revenge of the Island..."

Duncan rolled his eyes "Oh those losers...who'd you bring? That gamer kid?"

Chris pulled off the first hood "…Zoey"

Zoey looked around a little nervously, but her pace stopped on the juvenile. She smiled.

"Oh, hey Duncan."

Duncan found himself surprised, and blushing a little. "Umm...hey." Zoey just smiled, while Duncan gaped.

"Easy Duncan" Chris butted in "She's got a boyfriend. Mike" Chris pulled off another hood. "We've also got Jo. Lightning. Scott and D-" As soon as Chris pulled of the last hood, the entire robe fell. As if there was nothing underneath it. Chris just stared with hood still in hand. Everyone else looked on, wide eyed.

"Ummm- where's Dawn?" asked Chris.

"Here I am" came a voice from behind Chris.

Chris cried out in fright. There he saw the pale, blonde, green sweater wearing contestant standing behind him. He froze there a few moments, with Dawn just staring back at him. The two just stared at each other, not saying anything. Finally Chris came to his senses and tossed the hood back onto Dawn.

"Moving on…we also have contestants from our last season, Total Drama Pahkitew Island. Including the twins that hate each other, Amy and Samey."

"Ugh, put the mask back on Spare-Amy, she'd look better with it."

Samey just sighed sadly.

**Confessional (Samey): **When they asked me back for another season, they would only take me back if Amy would also be on the show. Now she's just going to ruin everything like last time.

**Confessional (Amy): **Ugh, I can't believe they wanted Lamey back for a season. Whatever, if it means I get to humiliate her on national TV again that's fine with me.

"We've also got the Aussie native, Jasmine." Chris pulled the hood off the tall competitor. The hood that was supposed to be covering her body was barely working, as half of her legs were sticking out. She nervously smiled. "Oh great, first being trapped in a tight bag giving the feeling of being trapped in a dark, cramped space, to being in a dimly lit tight space that's setting off my claustrophobia, fantastic." She started laughing nervously.

"Jasmine…?" Came a voice to her side

Jasmine's focus broke and she turned to see her friend from last season: Samey. She smiled at the tall Australian. Jasmine's fear of tight spaces was immediately put aside. "Oh, hey Samey…" she smiled. "How's it going?"

Samey grinned back at her, ecstatic that one of her friends recognized her. "Oh, it's going good except for…" At that moment, Amy let out a loud groan.

"Could someone put me in a seat that isn't next to a cyclops and an ogre?" she shouted. Samey sighed, while Jasmine glared.

"...That." finished Samey. Jasmine frowned, feeling upset for her friend.

"Alright, now that all the campers are done with, it's now time to-" Chris started

"Uh, hold on there Mathlete" quipped Noah "There's supposed to be twenty-two of us and I only count twenty."

Chris rolled right in front of Noah, putting his index finger up to the brainiac's lips. "I was getting to that." Chris stood up and sighed, "As some of you know, well to be honest I don't care how many of you know, Total Drama hosted a spinoff series called the Ridonculous Race…"

Owen spoke up "Wait I thought he said not to…"

"I didn't get to host it" Chris said, raising his voice, "But the producers wanted two brand new competitors for this season. The winners of the Ridonculous Race." He grabbed the hoods of two competitors in front of him. "The Cadets. Macarthur and Sanders."

"Alright, you dirtbags" said the more burly one "Get ready to enter a world of pain. As soon as I get my hands on ya, you will recognize what the true meaning of fear is, when you see me running behind you, breathing down your neck. Anyone that gets in my way will be crushed between my guns of steel and you will be sent home crying in agony and they will realize just how much you will regret ever meeting me. I will be your worst nightmare!"

Everyone just stared at Macarthur, all wide eyed and gobsmacked. Her partner, Sanders, confusingly stared at her.

"Did you really have to do that?" she said

"Just psyching 'em up, partner. These guys have seen worse."

**Confessional** **(Cody): **I think I'll take my chances with Sierra if it means not being near that Cadet.

**Confessional (Lightning): **Sometimes Lightning likes a little crazy. Keeps him on his toes. Not this crazy. Lightning no likey.

**Confessional (Zoey): **Wow that girl is...wow...she certainly is...what's the word...spunky?

**Confessional (Duncan): **Of course, Chris brought cops onto the show. He still hates me after I blew up his "Cottage." Plus, they're crazy. Well, one of them is. I'm not sure what the other's deal is.

Static

All the competitors are now standing in the first class room, mingling with each other. Sierra running around looking for any sign of Cody, Duncan with his arms crossed, not talking to anyone, Scott and Courtney awkwardly staring at each other, Tyler and Lightning flexing, Jasmine talking to Samey and Zoey and Gwen hugging. Noah and Owen were standing by themselves. Macarthur and Sanders walked up to them.

"Oh hey" started Macarthur "You're the guys from the Race. You did pretty good."

Noah laughed sarcastically "Yeah well we didn't win." He gestured with his hands in a jazzy motion. Owen laughed.

"Oh, Noah. It doesn't matter if we win, it matters that we do our best."

"Says the guy who won a million dollars."

Owen scratched the back of his head. "Actually it was a hundred thousand…that I traded for a chance at the million...that I didn't win." He chuckled to himself, while the three raised eyebrows at each other.

Meanwhile, Duncan was looking around his fellow competitors, not looking too happy. Suddenly he felt a hand slap on his shoulders. He jolted in surprise. "Ah, welcome back my friend." Duncan groaned, he knew that voice.

"Alejandro." He said with fake enthusiasm.

The spanish hunk placed his arm around the former inmate's shoulder.

Alejandro chuckled with his devilish charm "Ah, what is wrong, Duncan? Did you miss me at all? I certainly missed our little chats we had during season 3."

"Well I didn't" Duncan pushed Alejandro's arm off of himself "Besides don't you have someone better to annoy? Like your girlfriend, the literal female equivalent of yourself?"

Alejandro looked away from Duncan before scratching the back of his head. Duncan noticed this.

"What? Did you two- did you two break up?"

Alejandro's mouth opened to answer, but nothing came out.

Duncan grinned at this "Oh my god, you totally did. Where is Little Ms. Sunshine?" He turned to walk away, but Alejandro grabbed his shoulders and stopped him.

"Please don't. It's not that we've broken up. It's that...we've…"

"It's complicated?"

Alejandro sighed "Yes that...thank you, _mi amigo_."

"Yeah I get that. Same thing happened with me and-" Duncan suddenly realized what he was saying and stopped, keeping his mouth shut. This time, it was Alejandro's turn to notice this. He stared for a moment, then smiled.

"You were talking about you and Gwen, weren't you? When you were a couple?"

Duncan kept his mouth shut, darting his eyes away from Alejandro's gaze. Alejandro didn't need him to say anything.

"Ah, I see. Why don't we go find your former _amor _and-"

This time Duncan grabbed Alejandro by the collar, aggressively. "Do that and you're dead, you son of a-" He stopped himself though. He sighed and released his grip. "Look, I don't think Gwen wants to see me right now. Keep it to yourself, and I'll keep your business with Heather a secret, capeesh?"

Alejandro made a lock and key motion over his mouth.

**Confessional (Alejandro): **Oh course, Duncan misses Gwen. I can always recognize the face of a lost lover...Not that I've ever felt the same way, of course.

He chuckled nervously.

Static

Now all the competitors were standing in the loser class section of the plane. Chris stood in front of them.

"Now that you've all gotten to know each other. Time to move onto the fun part."

"And by fun." added Jo "You really mean…?"

"Fun to watch for me, not as fun to be a part of for you." Chris finished

All the competitors rolled their eyes.

"Now" continued Chris. He pulled out a remote and pushed a button. A TV came out from the roof. "Since the theme will be changing every couple of episodes, we will start with the World Tour section." He pushed a button to reveal the place they would be landing. "Our first destination will be in...Italy." The contestants gasped in amazement. Mike put his arm around Zoey's shoulder. "The city of love" he said. Zoey cringed a little. "You mean France?" Mike suddenly realized what he said and hunched over sadly. Zoey planted a kiss on his cheek, immediately breaking the sadness as he smiled, as did Zoey.

"This challenge will consist of three parts. The first part will determine the teams for this season."

"Let me guess, are we going to jump out of the plane?" Noah rolled his eyes

"No…" Chris finished "You're going to jump out of a plane, into a funnel." Chris pressed another button on the remote "Once you reach the funnel, you will enter it. At the bottom of the funnel, there will be a divided scale that will shift after each player lands on one side. First eleven players on one side will determine their teams, the remaining members will go onto the other team." Chris walked over to the parachutes. "Now I have parachutes for all of you." Immediately every competitor raised their hands. "And yes I put in your contracts that every parachute functions properly." All the competitors sighed in relief. "Some of them may have a bit of a delay, but I can guarantee they will all work." Chris laughed, while all the competitors looked at each other nervously. "Alright see you guys at the bottom." Chris opened the airplane door, sending gusts of air out of the plane. All the competitors held onto something. Courtney tightly gripped Gwen, while Owen caught Noah in a bear hug. Chris laughed again and pushed the button again, closing the door. "Kidding" he said "Everyone grab a 'chute." Everyone glared at Chris, except Noah, who was losing air from Owen's tight grip.

Everyone was soon putting their parachutes on. Tyler, Lightning, Noah, Courtney, Jasmine, Amy and Samey all had their chutes already on. Leshawna was about to snap her's in place, when Alejandro grabbed her hands. "Allow me" He said slyly. Leshawna was not swayed though. "I don't think so, hun." She grabbed the latino's wrists and gripped tightly. Alejandro winced in pain. "Point taken, point taken" he screamed, through the pain. Leshawna released her grip and smiled smugly

**Confessional (Leshawna): **I'm not ashamed to admit that season 3 wasn't my best outing. I was played like a flute and I ain't about to let it happen again. Nobody messes with Leshawna

Static

Mike helped Zoey put on her parachute. She turned and smiled at her boyfriend. Then her gaze fell on someone else. She tapped Duncan on the shoulder. He turned.

"What do you want?" He said, dully.

Zoey shoved a parachute in his face. He confusingly stared at it.

"I found an extra" Zoey responded, in her usual bubbly tone. Mike raised an eyebrow at this.

Duncan took the chute. "Look I know last season you thought I was a softie, but that's not going to be the case this season. So-"

He tossed the chute behind him, not bothering to see where it landed. He heard a thud, followed by an "ow." Duncan's eyes widened. He quickly turned to see Gwen rubbing the back of her head and the parachute he just tossed lying behind her. She turned angrily. She saw Duncan looking at her and glared at him. Duncan cringed and tried to look away, as Gwen annoyingly turned around.

"Ummm." came Zoey's voice from behind him. Duncan turned around again. She was holding another chute. "You sure you don't want it?" She awkwardly said. Duncan sighed and quickly took the parachute.

Soon every competitor had a parachute on. "Alright everyone" Chris said with the remote in hand. "Get ready." Every competitor prepared to run through the door. "In 3...2...1. Go!" As soon as Chris finished, the door opened releasing the air from inside the plane, the competitors ran to the door.

"Oh yeah. EXTREME!" Tyler ran as fast as he could.

"Oh wait." The door suddenly closed again. Every competitor was able to stop in time, except Tyler. He planted face first into the metal doorway, groaning as he slid across the door. Everyone turned to Chris.

"I almost forgot" he said, pointing to the ceiling. A familiar ding-ding sound rang. Almost every competitor groaned, except for Courtney, the Revenge cast and the Pahkitew Island cast, who look confusingly at everyone.

"Why is everyone groaning?" asked Jasmine.

"We have to sing." moaned Heather.

"Yes" shouted Amy "I'm a way better singer than Lamey" Samey just rolled her eyes.

"Lucky for you, I got good news." said Chris "Firstly, this will only happen during the World Tour challenges." Everyone sighed in relief after this. "Second, since there's twenty two of you Only a few of you are going to sing-"

"Oh, oh, oh, pick me. Pick me." Courtney raised her hand in air.

"Easy, Courtney. I only want two people to sing for this one." Chris pointed "For this song, I want Duncan…" The former juvy boy grumbled at this "and...Scott." The country boy in the white tank top looked confused.

"Wait why me?" he asked

"You haven't said much since you got here...so...get to it." The door opened again. "And if you don't sing, you're instantly eliminated."

Tyler ran to the outside again.

"Oh yeah, EXTRE-" Suddenly he was shoved to the side by Lightning.

"I don't think so. Lightning's winning this. SHA-BAM" He ran and jumped out of the plane. Everyone else soon followed. The music started playing.

(To the tune of "Get Thru This" by Art of Dying")

Duncan:

I've been through a lot, yeah.

4 seasons of pain

Scott

Not really sure what to say

But at least there's no rain

Duncan

I'm gonna make it through this...

And I'm never coming back

Scott

My Papi always told me...

That really I don't know Jack

Duncan & Scott

I'm never doing this.

Not ever again.

If you ever see me here

I'll wish that I was dead.

Scott

I know it sounds harsh but It's just true…

Duncan

And If I don't make it through...

Duncan/Scott

I'm never comin' back

not ever again.

And if it ever happens then

I'll wish that I was dead

Scott

It's not that easy…

Duncan

I really missed Gwen...

The music suddenly cut as everyone stared at Duncan. Duncan's face glew red as his eyes darted around to see the slew of competitors staring at him, awkwardly. Thankfully for him, Gwen was above him and didn't hear what he had said.

The Competitors were descending at an ever increasing rate. "There's the funnel" shouted Mike.

The funnel was indeed where Mike said it was. The competitors started picking up speed. Scott was grinning to himself. "I can't believe I got to sing." he smiled "I didn't sound half bad either." In reality, Scott sounded as good as his normal speaking voice. Which, to put it lightly, didn't translate well with his singing voice.

"Oh your aura was lovely." came a voice

Scott screamed in surprise and turned to see Dawn, right next to him. Scott rolled his eyes.

"Oh, it's you…" he said, annoyed.

Much to Scott's confusion, Dawn was in a lotus position despite descending at an incredibly fast pace. "How are you-" He decided against it and remained silent.

All the competitors were getting closer and closer to the funnel. Samey, Jo, Alejandro and a few other decided to pull their cords right then and there. Lightning didn't though. He reached the side of the funnel, slid down straight to the bottom, landing on the red side of the scale.

"Awww yeah. Lightning is first. Not like it's anything new. Hahaha. SHA-Woah."

As soon as Lightning took a step forward, the scale tilted and Lightning fell forward off the scale, landing in the red circle. Lightning groaned, but still let out a muffled "Sha-bam."

More and more competitors were reaching the funnel. Some were still in the air. Noah pulled the cord to his chute, but nothing happened. "Ok, Chris, just let me fall, the contract said that the chutes would work." He noticed how much closer he was getting to the ground. "If they don't, then I can take you to court." He sounded very calm "I got a girlfriend who's a lawyer." Still calm "I can sue you for like a million dollars. I know how much you like your money, Chris." Then Noah realized just how close he was to the funnel. This time he started to panic "But that won't matter if I'm ALREADY DEAD!" At that moment, Noah's chute released and his descent slowed way down. Noah still looked terrified though. "You're a mad man, Mclean."

Duncan had reached the funnel. But he held onto the top of it. He looked around. "Where is she, where is she, where is she?"he whispered to himself.

**Confessional (Duncan):** Yeah, I kinda regret what happened in All-Stars. Gwen and I broke up cause I was kind of a jerk. More so than usual. But I want to fix that now and it starts with the two of us being on the same team.

Duncan was still looking for Gwen, while Jasmine had just landed. She made it safely and started sliding down. Samey was right behind her. "Samey" Jasmine called "Let's be on the same team." Samey smiled and was about to respond to that, when Amy landed on her shoulders.

"What the? Get away from me." Amy screamed. She still had the chute on and the tarp fell onto both sisters. The two squirmed, leading to Samey losing her balance and rolling down the funnel. Jasmine didn't hear this in time and, as soon as she turned, she was knocked forward, straight into the blue side of the scale. Amy and Samey had stopped themselves at the edge. The scale tiled over revealing the red side. The two unknowingly fell into that side.

Noah had finally reached the bottom and was about to pick his side.

**Confessional (Noah): ** I don't care who's on my team as long as it's not with any eels, ex-cons or Leshawna.

Static

Noah was about to jump in, when he heard a rumble. He looked to his sides before turning around. He gasped in horror.

"Noaaaaaaaaaah." screamed a helpless Owen, who was rolling down the funnel like a boulder, straight towards his little buddy. Noah tried to move, but he was too late. Owen slammed into Noah, with a loud crash, followed by an even louder SLAM at the bottom. Jo, who was nearby, noticed this and cringed at this. She jumped onto the newly available red side.

Once she landed onto the bottom, Amy and Samey were just getting themselves unstuck. Samey got up first, with her hair messed up. She looked around. "Where's Jasmine?" she asked.

"Who?" Lightning asked, while stretching. But he stopped, when he noticed his new teammate. He groaned. "Really? You got here?" Jo walked up to him, pissed. "Well you better get on my back because Lightning is gonna carry this team to victory." Jo immediately nailed him with a punch to the gut.

"Sha-ut up" she shouted.

"That line was lame." came a voice.

Jo turned and threw her arms down in disgust. "Oh come on, you?"

Heather walked off the scale and towards her new teammates. "Don't be upset, I'm the only hope our team has right now." She flounced straight up to Jo and pointed a finger in her face. "So you better start listening to me, got it?"

Jo was about to protest, but the not so bright jock butted in. "Nu-uh. Didn't you hear? Lightning is gonna carry his team to victory. So it's you who should be listening to me? SHA-BAM!"

The three started arguing loudly, leaving Samey to watch them in despair, realizing what her team was looking like.

Duncan was still looking for Gwen. His gaze stopped though. "There she is." Gwen and Courtney were now heading to the funnel. Duncan started moving down.

Cody was about to enter the scale, when he looked up. He also noticed Gwen. He decided to wait for her to get closer, until…

"CODY!"

The scream made Cody shiver as he slowly turned around. He saw a frantic and very quickly moving Sierra, running towards him. She was panting heavily, but not deterred in the slightest. Cody screamed and jumped right into the open scale, which had the blue side. He landed with a thud and looked up and sighed in relief as he saw the scale close.

"Whew. Glad I don't have to deal with-"

He heard a loud groan and felt the scale moving up. He looked up in terror as Sierra was pushing open the scale. She jumped in excitedly.

"Aw, crap" said Cody, dully. Before being tackled by the screaming fan. Tyler violently fell next to them, screaming as he came down.

More and more competitors made their way to each side, with Macarthur and Sanders making it onto the blue side, while Alejandro, Scott and Leshawna made it onto the red side.

Duncan scaled down the funnel, trying not to fall too far forward. Gwen was also getting closer. She hadn't seen the delinquent. Duncan wanted to keep it that way. Courtney was also close by with Gwen. The two went to the bottom and jumped in on the blue side. Duncan picked up the pace. He stopped at the bottom. He tried pushing the scale, but it didn't budge. He sighed, he would have to wait for the next person to enter.

Meanwhile, Mike and Zoey were the last to enter. They made their way into the funnel fairly close to each other. Zoey released her chute and grabbed the edge of the funnel. She looked at the bottom of the funnel. Mike was about to release his backpack when…

"Is that Duncan?" asked Zoey.

"What?" said Mike, who hadn't quite reached the funnel. He didn't push the button to release him from the chute in time, at that moment a big gust of wind showed up, pushing Mike away from Zoey and the funnel.

"Mike!" called out the Indie girl. Just then, another gust of wind blew Mike in the other direction. He ended up crashing into Zoey, sending her falling down the funnel. At that moment, Mike released his backpack, also falling down after Zoey.

Duncan heard various thumps coming from behind him. He turned, but before he could see what it was, Zoey crashed into him, sending both her and Duncan onto the red side. The scale turned just in time for Mike to fall through on the blue side.

Duncan was able to regain his composure. He grabbed his head in pain. Then he looked at his team. He saw Alejandro, he saw Heather, he saw Jo...but he didn't see Gwen. He got up and looked behind him. He was on the red side. He let out a groan.

"Really? I'm not even on Gwen's side. The whole reason I came here was to-"

Just then, Chris appeared in a helicopter with a megaphone.

"And with that the teams are set! Everyone make your way to the shuttles. They will take you to the next section of the challenge. Mclain out."

Duncan sighed angrily. He felt a hand touch his shoulder. He looked to see Zoey sympathetically looking at him.

"I'm sorry...I didn't mean to…" Duncan didn't let her finish. He pulled his shoulder away and walked past her

"Yeah, well...it doesn't matter now, does it?" he said, annoyed.

Zoey sighed sadly, even more so because she wasn't on the same team as Mike.

The competitors walked towards the shuttles that were located at the front of the giant scale.

Chris was there, standing in front of the helicopter, a massive pile of balls and two catapults.

"Welcome to the next part of the challenge. Firstly let's see our teams. On the blue side we got, Noah, Owen, Sanders, Macarthur, stalker Sierra, Cody, Courtney, Gwen, Tyler, Jasmine and Mike."

Mike looked over to his girlfriend, neither looked happy to be on separate teams.

"Tough" said Chris, jokingly. "And on the red side we have Amy, Samey, Duncan, Jo, Heather, Dawn (have no idea when you came down), Alejandro, Scott, Lightning, Zoey and Leshawna."

"That's the teams and they are final." Duncan glanced at Gwen on the other side. She noticed him and quickly turned away.

Jasmine also nervously looked at her friend, Samey.

"Great names for the teams, Chris." quipped Noah "Red team and Blue team, way to be creative."

Chris held his annoyance back as best he could. "Actually Noah, that's the next part of the challenge. As you can see we have all these spheres here and these two catapults. Waaay over there." he pointed past the mess that lay before him "Will be a target with a hole in the center. The goal of this challenge is to land two balls through the bullseye. Each sphere contains a different word. The first ball you land will be the first word of your name and the next ball will be your second name. And you won't know what's written inside the balls. The team that has a better name will get an advantage in the _last_ part of the challenge."

"There's still another part of the challenge?" cried Gwen

"Yes...now...make like the Italians and..._arrivare ad essa"_

All the competitors looked at each other confused. Chris sighed, annoyed.

"It means "get to it"...Chef?"

Chef suddenly appeared next to Chris with a horn, he blew into it, making a deep loud booming sound. The competitors were off, grabbing the spheres.

The members from the yet to be named teams took their spheres and placed them into the catapult. Chris watched on, as he looked to the camera.

"What new and ridiculous names will these competitors be stuck with? And who will be the first to say _ciao_ at a chance of 5 Million Dollars. Find out next time on Total...Drama...LEGENDS."


	2. Little Bitty Italy Part II

Chris was standing next to a canal. "Last time on Total Drama Legends. The competitors made themselves comfortable. Had a few laughs and a few...not laughs. Duncan stopped, Sierra dropped and Owen rolled. The teams are set, but not complete. What will the teams get for names, and will they be embarrassing?...most likely. All that and more, right here on Total...Drama...Legends.

The two teams were each working to launch their spheres through the target. Sanders held a ball and tossed it to Macarthur.

"What about this one?"

Macarthur caught it and pressed her ear against it. She shook her head.

"Nah, I'm not getting a great feeling about this one. It says something like "Polka Dot."

Sanders raised an eyebrow "But don't you like polka dots?"

"Well I mean I look good in them, no doubt. But I mean we gotta think of the team, gotta make a name that strikes fear into their hearts."

Sanders looked at her partner, confused.

**Confessional (Sanders): ** When we found out we were going to be part of Total Drama, Macarthur binge watched the entire series. Her favorite episode is actually the one where they had to conquer their fears. Apparently she thinks these guys are really intense even though, no offense, I think one of the guys was afraid of a chicken.

Just then Macarthur walked into the confessional. She squeezed herself into the tight space. Sanders had to move over, much to her confusion.

"What are you doing?" she asked

Macarthur just looked confused "Is this not where we do the interview part of the show?"

"Yeah, but only one at a time, this isn't the Race."

Macarthur froze for a few moments, not realizing just how cramped the space was, especially with her in it.

Static.

Cody was digging through the spheres. But he was also looking out for his crazy stalker. He picked through them, trying to decide which would be a good choice, even though he didn't know what it said. But what he failed to see was Sierra creeping up behind him. Cody did feel something was different and reluctantly looked back, only to be caught in a back hug.

"Oh, Cody, I remember all the fun we had back in All-Stars."

"Sierra I wasn't on All-Stars." Cody sighed "That was someone else. His name was Cameron."

Sierra just giggled. "Oh Cody, that was a great nickname, but I like you just as Cody."

Again, Cody sighed. But then he had an idea. He picked up one of the spheres and smiled.

"Hey you know what? We're trying to find a team name with these things. Maybe one of them says Cody, or Sierra, or Codera. And if you're lucky we can be called The Codys, or Sierra Cody."

At this idea, Sierra gasped, loosened her grip and excitedly grabbed the sphere Cody was holding and ran straight to the catapult. Tyler had just launched one, but completely missed. He was shoved to the side by the lunatic fan. Sierra launched the ball towards the target, and surprisingly nailed it straight into the bullseye.

Chris's voice was heard over a loudspeaker. "And with that the Blue team has their first half of their team name complete." Cody went wide eyed from this.

**Confessional (Cody): **I only said that to get her off of me, now I'm worried they actually said Cody or Sierra. Well, Team Cody doesn't sound too bad. That would make Gwen a Cody too.

He chuckled.

Static.

Sierra ran back to find another sphere.

Meanwhile, the red team was having trouble cooperating. Or rather, Heather, Jo and Lightning were having trouble.

"I say we use this one" said Heather, holding a sphere

"Why does it matter?" cried Jo, with her arms up "You don't know what it says."

"It probably says something like "Lightning" shouted the Jock, posing in the process.

"Well then I hope the second word we get is 'sucks" yelled Heather, walking away with her sphere. She placed it in the catapult, launched it, but it exploded in her face. She was covered from head to toe in green powder.

Again, Chris' voice was heard over the loudspeaker. "Oh yeah, some spheres might have a few surprises in them. Sorry, Heather."

Heather stamped her foot in frustration. Jo laughed, while Lightning posed, sha-bamming to himself.

Samey had just picked up her sphere and was walking towards the catapult. Amy appeared next to her.

"Samey, whatever you pick will just be lame, like you."

Samey rolled her eyes and ignored her sister. Amy noticed this.

"Hello? Are you listening? I said you were lame. And a loser."

Samey just continued walking.

Amy was getting fed up and grabbed her sister's arm. This time Samey jerked her arm off of her sister and glared at her.

"Look Amy. I'm done being picked on by you. You already ruined my chances of winning last season, so I don't care what you do now. Just leave me alone."

Samey turned and walked away, leaving Amy stunned.

Samey put her ball in the catapult and launched it, landing it in the bullseye hole. She celebrated to herself. Most of her teammates watched on, impressed. Amy was still in shock.

**Confessional (Amy): **No way Samey's getting away with this. If my insults aren't getting to her...I need to step it up. I will make her miserable.

Static

Jasmine watched Samey, smiling to herself.

"Good job, Samey." she called.

Noah looked up at her, eyebrow raised.

"You know, she's on the other team, right?" he asked.

Jasmine turned "Yeah, but she's still my friend. I can still be happy for her."

"Well speaking as someone who is competing in his fourth season, don't be rooting for the enemy."

"Samey's not an enemy," said Jasmine, annoyed by the statement

"Of course she's not." Noah said, in his sarcastic tone. "And Tesla and Edison were always chums. Speaking as a pro, watch your back. The fact that she's your friend makes her all the more dangerous to you."

Jasmine now looked down, unsure of what to think. But Noah continued.

"Now run along, Giantess, we have more balls to launch."

Jasmine's face turned from concern to anger. "Giantess!?"

**Confessional (Noah): **I know I'm not the strongest, or the most physically gifted, but I'm the smartest person here. Jasmine needed my advice, otherwise she'd just be a liability.

Static.

Now, Jasmine held Noah up in the air with one hand. She placed him in the catapult, angrily. The brainiac was regretting his choice of words. She launched the catapult, sending Noah screaming towards the target. Surprisingly, he landed directly in the bullseye, with his feet hanging out the other side. Chris spoke up, laughing.

"Ok even though that is hilarious that obviously doesn't count towards your team name."

Meanwhile, Leshawna was heading to the catapult with a ball.

"Leshawna" came a voice.

Leshawna yelped in surprise, dropping the ball in the process. She looked to her side to see Dawn standing next to her. She was holding a sphere in hand.

"Pardon my intrusion" she said, politely "But I suggest using this one." She held out the sphere she was holding.

Leshawna looked at her for a few moments, but reluctantly took the sphere. "...Thanks" she said, still unsure. She then walked up to the catapult and pulled it.

"A little higher will do it." Dawn said

Leshawna again, stared at her weirdly, but did as her teammate said and raised her angle just a tad. She launched the sphere and surprisingly it went perfectly into the target.

"Team Red officially has their team name completed. Too bad you don't get anything for finishing first." Chris said

Owen noticed this and panicked a little, picking up a ball. He ran up to a few of his teammates. "Sierra, Cody, Gwen, Courtney." The four looked at him, wondering what he would say "Remember Sweden?" The girls and Cody looked at each other confused.

A few moments later, Owen was strapped into the catapult with ball in hand.

"Owen, are you sure about this?" said Cody, concerned

**Confessional (Owen): **We're in Italy, I haven't eaten since we got off the plane, and when I start to get hungry I get a little desperate. I could really go for some eggplant parmesan.

Static

"Just fire and don't ask questions." Owen yelled back.

Cody still unsure, shrugged and pulled the cord, sending Owen careening out of it.

Owen, still ball in hand, screamed as flew through the air. When he saw the target, he became more determined though. He held the ball and locked eyes with the target. The rest of his team watched in suspense. He launched the ball towards the target.

...It went in.

The blue team cheered, as did Owen. But his cheering stopped when he realized he couldn't stop his momentum. He screamed as he neared the target, crashing right into it, turning the giant circle into splinters. He twitched within the wreckage, but otherwise came out fine.

"And with that," said Chris "Both teams have their names. Head to the shuttles and we'll start the next part of the challenge."

Later, all the teams stood on a bridge that was above the water. Chris stood behind a table with the team's spheres

"Alright, now that everyone is ready, let's reveal the team's names. And whichever team Chef likes more, will get a huge advantage in our last challenge. Now let's get to it."

"Is he trying to make that a catchphrase?" whispered Gwen to Courtney. The two giggled at this.

"We'll start with the red team."

Chris pulled out a key and put it through a slot on top of the sphere. He turned it, then the other.

"Alright red team, your official name is The...Vengeful...Bobcats!"

The newly named Vengeful Bobcats seemed happy with that name. Leshawna turned to Dawn.

"Did you know that said Bobcats?" she asked

Dawn smiled "I was getting a strong aura from it. My Mother's favorite animal is a Bobcat."

**Confessional (Leshawna): ** That girl is some kind of crazy. But she's got my respect. Plus, crazy ain't all that bad. Miss ya Harold.

Static

"Alright not off to a bad start." said Chris "But now it's the blue team's turn."

"Team Cody, Team Cody, Team Cody." Whispered Sierra, leading to her teammates staring at her weirdly. Chris turned the spheres towards himself, and unlocked them.

Once he saw the name he just stared at it, a little confused. "Well, I figured something like this could happen. Blue team, your official name is the...Shark...Cowboys."

The blue team didn't look all too happy with that name...especially Sierra.

**Confessional (Courtney): **I have to be on a team that is called the Shark Cowboys!? Well, my lawyers will solve this.

Suddenly Chris appeared in the confessional with a contract, dropping it in the CIT's hands.

"All team names are final and there is no way to change them." He exited the stall. Courtney looked at the contract and sighed, defeated.

"Go Shark Cowboys" she said, unenthusiastically.

Static

"Chef, what team name do you think is better?" asked Chris

Chef thought for a few moments. "Well Chris" he finally said "I do like a little bit of vengeance, and bobcats are kinda cool." The red team held their breath "But I also like the idea of a shark, riding a horse. So I gotta go with the Shark Cowboys."

The Shark Cowboys celebrated and high fived at this. The Vengeful Bobcats just sighed.

"It's totally Lamey's fault" said Amy, pointing at her sister "She picked a bad name for us."

"Girl, calm yourself" spoke up Leshawna "None of us knew what our team name would be."

Samey was surprised that someone who wasn't Jasmine had stood up for her. She smiled.

"Thanks" she whispered.

Leshawna smiled "No problem, girl."

"Yes, yes we're all happy and what not. Come on people, time for the last part of the challenge. I like to call it: Water Maze of Doom!"

Chris spread his arms out, revealing the canal that he stood in front of. "Aside from it's architecture and excellent cuisine, Italy is known for its famous canals. And we are the most famous of them all, the Grand Canal. 2 miles in length, it travels all the way through Venice." The teams actually looked impressed at this.

"The goal of this game is to get your entire team to the other side. One player will be selected as the rower and will have to take your partners, one at a time, across the canal. The first player to get their entire team to the end, will be the winner. And the losing team will head to the elimination ceremony tonight and vote off one of their teammates."

"Now I said that the team who had the best name would get an advantage. The Bobcats will only be allowed one rower, but The Shark Cowboys will be allowed one rower change. You don't have to choose them now, but if you rower is tired, you will be allowed to change. Now, I need your rowers."

Tyler, of the Shark Cowboys, immediately raised his hand. "I totally got this guys," he said, confidently.

**Confessional (Tyler): **I totally have this season in the bag. Pretty soon, everyone will be talking all about Tyler! WOOOO!

Static

The Bobcats were still deciding who should be the rower. Amy stood where she was, completely uninterested, but then a smirk appeared across her face.

"I'll do it" she shouted

Her teammates looked confusingly at her as she stepped forward. Samey watched suspiciously.

**Confessional (Samey): **Amy did use to really like sailing and rowing when she was younger, so she does seem like a good pick, but I feel as though she's up to something.

Static.

Tyler and Amy stood in front of their respective teams. Chris instructed them to get their boats. But they didn't see where they were. Since they were standing on a bridge, Chris told them to look down. The competitors looked down, noticing the boats.

"You and your teammates must jump from the ledge and into the boats." Chris smiled. "Rowers, to your boats."

Amy jumped from the canal and landed perfectly onto the boat. The boat wasn't large, but it was enough to fit two people. Tyler tried to jump over the rail, but tripped as he went over and face planted onto the boat.

"Alright who's getting the first ride?"

"Lightning always goes first." said the Jock. But Jo blocked him.

"I don't think so, JockStrap. The leader should go first."

"If we're playin' follow the leader, then it's you who should be following me."

Zoey made her presence known by putting herself in between the two. "Guys, we need to think of the team. I say we let the biggest member of our team go first." The entire team then looked directly at Leshawna. She was confused at first, but then realized what they were implying.

"Fine, I'll go, but you guys need to understand the difference between big and THICK." she then showed off some of her "assets."

**Confessional (Heather): **Does Chris have any more of those barf bags from season 3?

Static

Macarthur looked at the opposing team and then back to hers.

"Alright, guys. We should do the same thing the other team is doing. So heaviest person goes first." She looked at Owen "So, big guy, you're up first."

Owen gave a thumbs up

"I'll go second," continued Macarthur "Then the Aussie will go...then-"

Macarthur stopped when noticed Jasmine wasn't paying attention. She was looking at the other team. At Samey.

"Ummmm, Jasmine?" asked Sierra

Jasmine broke out of her trance. She looked back at her team. "Y-Yeah?"

Macarthur repeated her plan again. Jasmine nodded. "Alright, I got it. Let's do this."

The team separated and got in their places. But one player wasn't too happy. Courtney.

**Confessional (Courtney): **Who died and made her in charge? She might be a cadet, but I was a Certified CIT. If she thinks she can run this team by herself, she's going home sooner than she realizes.

Static

All the teams were standing where they were supposed to. Tyler and Amy were both ready, as were Owen and Leshawna. Duncan cast another glance over to Gwen. She didn't see him, as she was focused on the competition. Duncan was so focused on looking at Gwen that he didn't see Zoey looking at him, then to Gwen.

Chris started a countdown. "3...2...1...Row!"

Immediately, Leshawna leaped over the railing, landing with a hard thud, but still on her feet. Her landing shook the boat, and Amy. She struggled to gain balance, but didn't fall. Leshawna turned around as she took her seat. "Come on, let's go. Leshawna's not losing this." Amy nodded and started rowing.

Tyler watched them leave, then looked up. Owen was still struggling to get over. But the more Tyler thought, the more he realized what would happen if Owen fell from that height. Quickly, he moved the boat backwards. As soon as he did, Owen fell down landing in the water. He created a small wave in the process that sent Tyler back a few inches. He moved back forward as Owen resurfaced.

"Dude, why'd you do that?" he asked, getting back on the boat.

"Sorry, Owen. But you do realize what would've happened if you landed in the boat, right?"

Owen froze, thinking about it for a moment. He then looked down at himself, and then back up. He then realized what Tyler meant.

"Oooooooohhhh," he laughed "Good call."

Tyler started rowing.

Meanwhile Leshawna was using the time in the canal to relax. Nothing had happened since she and Amy had sailed off. She glared at the evil sister.

"Am I going to have a problem with you?" she asked, annoyed.

Amy smiled to herself, before turning bad, feigning a frown, she sighed. "Oh yeah, sorry about that, I just...ah never mind it's not important."

Leshawna, as Amy expected, raised an eyebrow to this. "Come on honey, what's the matter?"

Amy sighed again, this time much more dramatically. "It's just that I don't want anyone to duped by my twin sister." Leshawna's curiosity was peaking, and Amy knew it "She isn't what she says she is. She likes to lie to people and will sabotage anything if it means making herself look good." A tear shed across Amy's face. "I don't like to see it happen to good people. Like you, Leshawna. You don't deserve that." Amy wiped the tear off of her cheek.

Leshawna bought it. She got up and walked closer to Amy. "Hey it's alright, I know what it's like to be lied to, cheated on and made to look like a fool. I got ya back, girl." Leshawna gave her new "friend" a pat on the shoulder and went back to sitting down. Unbeknownst to her, Amy cast a devilish smile.

Tyler wasn't having as great a time, he was dodging projectiles being launched at him by Chef. One of them finally hit him. It was spaghetti. Tyler wiped it off of his tracksuit. Owen came up to him and licked it off of his suit. The Jock looked at him, confused. But Owen just smiled.

"Mmmmm...Italian..." He turned around and waited for another shot to fire. Chef aimed and fired the spaghetti right at him. Owen opened his mouth and caught the entire thing in his mouth. Chef looked on in confusion. He tried to aim at Tyler, but Owen blocked him by eating the oncoming noodles. Owen gave Tyler a thumbs up, noting that he would be safe from chef's attacks.

Back at the bridge, the competitors stood around, bored. Zoey, however, was more focused on someone: Duncan. She was standing right behind him in the line and at seen the ex-inmate, stare intently at Gwen on the other team. Zoey remembered what had happened during All-Stars, and how the break-up between Gwen and Duncan happened so suddenly. He remembered how Duncan was sent off to the slammer and how Gwen showed no remorse when he left. And even though it wasn't her fault, she felt responsible for putting him on a team he didn't want to be on.

She tapped him on the shoulder. "Uh, hey Duncan?"

The former juvy boy turned around, annoyed. "What?" he said bluntly.

Zoey took a deep breath and looked him directly in the eye. "Remember how back in All-Stars you warned me that Mike wasn't who he said he was because he was actually Mal?"

Duncan nodded, a little curious.

"Well" Zoey continued, nervously "I feel like I owe you something. For helping me. Back in All-Stars."

Duncan turned around, no longer interested. "What did you have in mind?" He said, sarcastically.

"Getting you and Gwen on good terms with each other?" asked Zoey, innocently.

Duncan went wide eyed, his arms dropped to his sides. He just stood there a few seconds. Zoey could only see his back, not sure what he was thinking. After a few tense moments, Duncan turned around, and leaned forward so only Zoey could hear what he was about to say.

"You better not be screwing with me, got that?"

Zoey simply nodded,

Duncan continued "But yeah, you're right, you owe me. So you're going to get me back with Gwen. And you're going to tell me what it is, right now."

Zoey opened her mouth to speak, but something caught her eye. She looked back at Duncan. "C-can we do this at a time where my boyfriend isn't staring at us right now?"

Duncan looked up and noticed Mike, staring at the two of them from the other side, with a suspicious look on his face. Duncan looked back at Zoey.

"Fine" he whispered "But we're doing this...soon." He turned back around

Zoey smiled, but then looked to Mike, who was still staring at his girlfriend. Zoey tried to reassure him by blowing him a kiss. Mike raised his hand and acted like he grabbed it. He smiled, but still seemed worried.

Amy had made it back and was ready to pick up the next person.

"Aw yeah, Lightning has got this in the bag, SHA-BOOM!" Lightning jumped over the rail, but Amy wasn't underneath him yet, and Lightning went straight into the water. A huge splash of water landed directly onto Amy. She was completely soaked. She looked like she would blow a gasket, when she heard laughing. Samey pointed and laughed at her sister, as did a few others. Amy was about to protest, but she decided not to. Samey noticed this and stopped laughing.

Lightning got back on the boat. "Sorry about that, Blondie."

Amy smiled "Not a problem."

Again, Samey watched in curiosity

**Confessional (Samey): **Amy hates it when people make fun of her, especially me. Last time she got drenched like that was from the entire football team, and she ended up giving the quarterback a concussion...She's up to something.

Static.

The competitors, who were still standing around at the bridge, were looking even more bored. The competition was moving very slowly. Chris suddenly appeared.

"Come on, people, this is supposed to be exciting. Gossip. Trash talk. Main each other, I don't care."

Most of the competitors rolled their eyes. Chris sighed. He then pointed up.

Ding-ding

"Since none of you want to keep this show alive, I'll have to make things move faster. Now I'll need two volunteers to-"

Courtney immediately raised her hand. "Me. Me. I'll sing. I want to sing. I'm gonna sing."

"Ok...Courtney...you're up." Chris said, not surprised by Courtney's outburst. Courtney celebrated to herself, while Gwen put a shoulder on her's

Chris then turned to the Bobcats. "Now...what lucky competitor will be part of this duet?"

The remaining Bobcats all looked at each other. At that moment, Amy showed up. Jo immediately jumped over the rail and landed on the boat. She looked back at her team.

"Sorry, guys, wish I could do it, but I'm on the boat so…I'm sure you'll find someone."

The competitors glared at her as she floated away.

"Fine" groaned Zoey "I'll do it."

She stepped forward, next to Chris, who stood next to Courtney.

"Alright, you two. We want something good, something catchy and something that pops."

"Chris, when I'm done, they'll be scraping your jaw off the floor with a shovel." Courtney said confidently.

"Um, yeah what she said…" Zoey said, not sure how to feel.

"Great. Chef? Hit it!"

Chef stood in front of a soundboard, giving a thumbs up, pushing the button.

The music started as Courtney got in place.

(To the Tune of "So What?" by P!NK)

Courtney

I feel my team's gonna win this

And make it to the end

Cause they got me as a leader

And we also got Gwen

Duncan's a stuck up loser

And his team thinks I'm right.

Zoey

Yeah...I mean no…

Courtney

I will be the one who

Will be crushing your dream tonight

(Courtney gets right in the face of Zoey)

La-la-la-la-la-la

Crushin' them tonight

La-la-la-la-la-la

Zoey

Are we about to...fight?

Courntey

Stand down.

I'm kickin' your butt

I'm the greatest

Siiiiiinnnnger

And you're just. A wannabe

Who can't siiiinnng

Zoey (Incredibly nervous)

I really need

To get some lines in

Or else I'll

Be Elimiiiii...min...ated

Courtney

Takin' you down tonight

I'm all fine. You can fly.

But you can't sing

Like me

I'm a rockstar

You're a blowhard

And you can't match me tonight

Match me tonight

End

Courtney raised her arms in success, while her team cheered. She walked over and high fived Gwen. Zoey feebishly walked back to her team, relieved the whole ordeal was over. Duncan watched her slink back to her place in line with pity.

The song did help move things faster. Several Bobcats and Cowboys had made their way through. The Bobcats had a slight lead.

Tyler, who at this point was getting tired, was rowing Noah through the canal. Noah had his arms folded and was staring forward.

"I don't like that Aussie girl," Noah finally said

Tyler wiped his brow "What? Jasmine?"

Noah looked back, annoyed. "No. The other girl from Australia who's competing on this show." In his usual sarcastic tone.

"Oh." Tyler said "What don't you like about her?"

"She's tall, new and doesn't respect my smarts…"

"Is it because she put you in a catapult?"

Noah glared back at Tyler. Instead of saying anything more, Tyler remained silent as he continued rowing.

Meanwhile, Amy had just dropped off Scott from the canal. He looked annoyed.

"I don't get it, what was so stupid about getting all the good players off my team? I eliminated all the threats."

Amy consoled him "That's what I think, but try telling that to Samey, she thinks you only got lucky when you weren't eliminated immediately."

Scott grumbled as he walked away, leaving Amy to smirk in her manipulation.

**Confessional (Amy): **This plan is genius. I told Jo that Samey thought she was a guy the entire season, I told Duncan that she was glad that he and Gwen split up, and I told Lightning that Jo is a better competitor than him in every way. Sorry. Samey told him that…

Static

Meanwhile, Tyler had just made it back to the bridge. He looked exhausted. He still had three more players left to take: Mike, Gwen and Courtney. They looked at him.

"It's ok guys, I totally got this." He panted

Gwen spoke up "Dude, you need to stop now, one of us should swap."

"I don't know. If the guy says he can still go...I say let him." said Mike.

"What?!" cried Courtney "Look at him, his track suit is changing color because of the sweat."

"Cowboys." said Chris "You still haven't used your rower swap yet. This is your last chance, otherwise you won't be able to use it again. And I'd make a decision quickly, the Bobcats are almost done."

The remaining Shark Cowboys looked over to see that Chris was right. Amy was picking up the second to last player on her team, Samey, they only needed to come back one more time and they would win.

Gwen and Courntey looked at each other, but before they could say anything, Mike spoke up.

"Tyler said he was good to go, so we're not going to swap."

The two girls slapped their foreheads. Chris laughed

"Ok, you're loss." He turned to the jock. "Tyler, I hope your arms still work after this."

Tyler tried to give a thumbs up but his arm was tired from rowing, he couldn't hold it up for a few seconds. Courtney pointed at Mike.

"If we lose this, you're the one who's going home tonight."

**Confessional (Mike) **Yeah, probably not my smartest move. I couldn't help it, I was distracted. I was thinking about Zoey. And Duncan. What's up with those two? Are they...no. No they're just friends. Teammates, not even friends. Just two people that happen to be on the same team. That's it.

Static

Meanwhile, Amy was rowing Samey. Samey was expecting Amy to make fun of her the whole way through. But no. Amy didn't say a word. She didn't glare, she didn't roll her eyes and she didn't groan. Samey felt weird about this whole thing. The silence was incredibly awkward.

"Are you not going to say anything?" She finally said

Amy shrugged "You told me that my words don't mean anything more, so why bother?"

Samey turned back around, still confused.

"Heads up" shouted Amy, as a large ball of spaghetti nailed Samey in the face.

Amy tried her best to hold back her laughter.

Tyler could barely move his arms. He would never make it at this rate, especially since two more competitors were still waiting. Mike looked at him.

"Ok, maybe keeping you as the rower wasn't a good idea, but now there's no choice. So you gotta kick it into high gear."

Tyler froze, then he smiled. "KICK! That's it."

He tossed his pattle into the water and jumped off the boat. Mike watched on, surprised.

"Ok, dude I think the fatigue is setting in...But you can't just-"

Suddenly the boat jerked forward, almost knocking Mike off of it. Tyler had gotten to the back of the boat, and holding onto the rear of it, kicked his feet, not only making the boat move, but making it move at a significantly faster rate.

Tyler screamed in delight. While Mike held on for dear life.

Amy had just dropped Samey off at the end. Samey walked towards her team, but her pace slowed when she saw that her teammates were glaring at her.

"Hey...guys. What's up?" she said, awkwardly

Leshawna walked right up to her. "Don't play that nice girl act with us, toothpick. If you actually think you can mess with us, you're dead wrong. I've been on this show long enough to spot a blondie with a bad attitude."

"Wait, what are you-"

Lightning butted in. "And no way Jo is better than Lightning. Lightning's gonna strike, and send you packing."

Samey tried to say something, but was overwhelmed by the sheer amount of people surrounding and shouting at her.

She didn't see Amy row away, with a huge grin on her face.

Tyler bolted into the end, turning just before the dock. He caused a giant wave to come splashing down on the rest of his team. The Cowboys were either completely soaked or knocked off their feet. Macarthur, who was upside down, shouted in excitement.

**Confessional (Macarthur): **Did you see that? That guy was awesome. I knew these guys were intense. No way anyone can push a boat like that at over 15 miles per hour, and stop on a dime. These guys can withstand anything.

**Confessional (Noah, soaking wet): **Not really a big fan of getting drenched like that, dude.

You better win this or you're done.

Static.

Amy arrived back at the bridge to pick up the last competitor: Zoey. She quickly jumped onboard.

"Quick" she said "we can win this."

Amy was now starting to get really tired. She turned her boat, and started off, but before she could even get a few feet, Tyler rocketed past them, stopping under the bridge.

"We totally got this!"

Gwen was about to jump, when she looked back at Courtney.

"See you soon," she said, giving a wave.

Courtney watched as Gwen got on and being propelled forward by Tyler.

Zoey looked at Amy. "Can you go any faster?"

"Sure" said the exhausted rower "But first, did you know that Samey..."

Back at the end, Samey was still shocked at the "less than warm welcome" she received. Her teammates were no longer yelling at her, but they all had their backs against her.

**Confessional (Samey): **I don't get it, I barely spoke to anyone, and they all hate me for some reason. Did I do something wrong? Did they not like the name that I was partly responsible for? Did they mistake me with Amy?

Static

Tyler just arrived with Gwen, again coming in at a tremendous speed and stopping in an instance. Everyone moved out of the way, except Macarthur, who embraced the oncoming wave.

After dropping off Gwen, Tyler sped back towards the bridge.

"We might just win this." said Sierra, hugging Cody tightly.

The Vengeful Bobcats watched with worry, hoping Amy would show up soon.

Courntey was nervously waiting at the bridge, waiting for Tyler. He showed up a few seconds later. She jumped down, almost missing the boat. At this point, he was getting tired again. Courtney noticed this.

"Look, I'm the last person you need to take to the end. So find your second wind and move it!"

Tyler focused. He grabbed the end of the boat. And kicked. He kicked as hard as he possibly could. He could create tidal waves with every slap. Courtney seemed excited at first, but the

faster Tyler went, the more scared she became. She desperately held onto something.

Amy and Zoey were just about to reach the end.

"Hey I see the rest our team…" Zoey pointed

"That's nice" panted the exhausted Amy "Now I need to tell you that Samey-"

Suddenly a loud splashing noise could be heard. It got louder and louder. Amy and Zoey looked around.

"Do you hear that?" asked Zoey.

Tyler has paddling even harder. His grip was also getting tighter. The boat started cracking. Courtney stopped screaming long enough to notice this.

"Ok, Tyler we're almost at the end, you don't have to-"

But Tyler didn't notice her, he was too focused.

Amy and Zoey finally saw the oncoming battering ram of a boat. They watched in horror. Finally with all the force of Tyler's grip and the speed they were going, his boat snapped in two.

Courtney let out a blood curdling scream

**Confessional (Tyler, looking at his fingers): **I really need to get these things looked at.

Static

Tyler had also been creating a wave with the amount of paddling he was doing. Zoey and Amy's boat ended up getting caught up in it. Courtney, desperately holding onto her half of the boat, flew into the air. Tyler, holding the other half, got sucked into the wave he was making. Amy and Zoey clinged to each other as they neared the ground, until they also got sucked into the wave. The rest of the still standing campers watched in shock and amazement as they saw the oncoming tidal wave. Even Macarthur was scared at the awaiting disaster. With an almighty crash, the wave slammed down onto the dock. Every person standing was toppled by all the water. Even Chris and Chef, who were standing several feet away got sucked into the waves.

Once the water parted, almost every competitor was laying on the floor.

Courtney was clinging onto her part of the boat, absolutely petrified by what happened.

Tyler was nowhere near the rest. He crashed through a wall, with his legs hanging out the other end. Amy and Zoey had both ended up back in the canal, holding onto the wall.

Chris, who had finally gotten up from the wave, walked over.

"Alright, according to the tapes the first person to arrive first was Courtney.." he started. The fatigued Cowboys celebrated with a very drowsy "yay."

But Chris had more to say, "However, the point of the competition was to get your boat to the end. That means the whole boat. Not half the boat. The whole boat. So because of that, the Vengeful Bobcats are the winners."

The Cowboys groaned, as the Bobcats cheered, even if not all of them were standing.

"Bobcats, you guys will be enjoying a luxurious 5-star italian dinner tonight." The team cheered again. Owen kneeled, groaning in agony at the food he wouldn't be getting. Chris then turned to the Cowboys. "Shark Cowboys, you'll be sending someone home tonight. I can already think of a few that would be good choices." The team members looked at each other, nervously.

Later

Every competitor was back on the plane.

**Confessional (Noah): **Tyler. Dude. I like you. But you seriously need to chill.

**Confessional (Samey): **I'm glad to win the first challenge, even if the team doesn't seem to like me.

**Confessional (Cody): **I'll tell you who I want to see go home. Sierra. She's too clingy. This is literally the only time I've had to myself. At the toilet. I mean who would ever go for someone who doesn't leave you alone, will do anything for you even if you don't ask and won't take 'no' for an-

Cody froze, before bolting out the toilet.

Static

"So, who are we voting out?" asked Sanders, to Gwen and Courtney, who was sporting bandages on her arms, and a black eye.

"I say Mike" said Courtney "He never let us switch rowers, he cost us the challenge."

Gwen spoke up "Yeah, but Tyler also broke the boat that you were on. Are you sure you're ok?"

Courtney smiled "I'm fine, don't worry."

"Nah" spoke up Macarthur "That guy brought it to the table. We need a mega athlete like him for another challenge."

Courtney and Gwen looked at each other, confused.

Before they could say anything, Cody ran up to them, panting.

"Cody, are you-" Gwen started

Cody interrupted, still panting heavily "Gwen! I'm so sorry."

Gwen raised an eyebrow at this.

"I thought having a stalker fan would be cool. I thought that being irresistible to someone would be the coolest. But I was wrong. I was so wrong. I hate the fact that saying 'no' does nothing. I the fact that she can't take a clue. I hate my privacy constantly being invaded all the time. And you know what I realized?"

Before anyone could answer, Cody continued

"...I was the same way back in season one. I didn't take 'no' for an answer. I never got the clue that you weren't into me. I was in this delusional mindset that you would go out with me. You gave me your bra because of a bet, and I just realized how incredibly creepy that is. And I just wanted to say that 'I'm sorry' and I swear I will never try to flirt with you as long as I live. Unless you ask me."

Gwen and Courtney were speechless. Cody had just sworn off ever trying to flirt with Gwen.

"Sierra really got to you?" Gwen said, snapping out of her trance.

Cody, who was bowing, nodded his head. Gwen sighed and helped Cody stand up.

"Cody." she started "To be honest, you remind me a lot of my little brother. Yeah, you were creepy, annoying and you have no real idea how to talk to a girl. But there is a part of you that isn't all bad and maybe a little charming...in a...weird sense."

Cody sighed in relief to hear that from Gwen. "Thanks. And I swear I won't try anything with you from this point on."

"Thanks Cody." Gwen smiled "But even if you wanted to, it wouldn't be a good idea because…"

Gwen leaned in to whisper something into Cody's ear. Cody listened, nodding at what she was saying. Suddenly he went wide eyed and mouth agape. Gwen stepped away, smiling, as she watched Cody stammer to himself.

"I- So- That means that-" he looked at Gwen "So you and-"

Gwen nodded

Cody stood in silence for a few moments

"Wow. I'll be honest...I had a dream that something like that would happen…"

Gwen raised an eyebrow at this, leading to Cody realizing just how weird he was sounding. He chuckled and shrugged. "Like a little brother, right?"

Gwen smirked.

"I still think we should eliminate Mike after he cost us the game." Courtney interrupted

"Yes, and we'll have time for that." Countered Cody "But for now, there's someone I really, REALLY want to eliminate first."

Courtney gave an unsure look, until Gwen nudged her on the shoulder. Courtney looked at her and sighed.

"Fine, we'll do it your way."

"Yes." cried Cody "Now we just need a few more people to-"

"Um, excuse us?" came a voice

Cody, Courtney and Gwen looked over to see the two cadets that were still there.

"We can vote with you guys, if you want." said Sanders

Macarthur finished "Yeah, to be honest, we have no idea who to vote for, since this is our first time. All we know is that we aren't eliminating that beast of a jock."

Gwen and Courtney looked at each other confused, but Cody was too happy to care.

Later,

All the Shark Cowboys were sitting on the plane for the first elimination ceremony, most of them looked annoyed and ready to get it over with. But some looked a little nervous. Most notably Mike.

**Confessional (Mike): ** I'm pretty sure Gwen and Courtney are still mad at me for forcing Tyler to do the whole challenge. After today, I'm no longer focusing on...that person...or that other person. Possibly being together. That is, if I make it past today's elimination.

**Confessional (Owen): **I like Tyler and all that, but he did cost us the challenge today. Or at least that's what Noah said.

**Confessional (Sierra): **With such a huge cast and a new season, there's bound to be new rivals and new relationships. Which means more material for my vlog. And if I stay around long enough, maybe I can make Coderra the top couple of the week.

Static.

Chris stood in front of them with a silver platter with a lid. He opened the lid, revealing several disgusting bags filled with peanuts.

"Welcome legends" he started "In my hand I have a tray of barf bags, filled with delicious and delectable peanuts. Savor them because they are your pass to stay in the game. Whoever receives the most votes will not receive a barf bag. And if you do not receive a barf bag then you will-"

"Be sent home on the something of shame…" started Gwen

"And won't be allowed to come back…" continued Courtney

"...Ever" Finished Cody

"Even though you've brought back at least one contestant almost every season." added Noah

"Not my season…" mumbled Jasmine.

Macarthur whispered to her partner "I told you these guys know their stuff."

"Ok, enough" shouted Chris "I was hoping to make this as dramatic as possible, but since you guys hate it when I have fun, I guess we'll just go straight to passing out the bags."

He paused

"The first bag goes to…

Gwen…

Courtney…

Owen…

Cody…

Jasmine…

Macarthur and Sanders…

Both cadets caught their bags. Macarthur couldn't contain her excitement and punched Sanders in the arm. The thinner cadet winced in pain, followed by a glare to her partner. Macarthur then looked at her with a guilt ridden expression.

Noah…

The final three, Mike, Tyler and Sierra looked on with worry, hoping one of them wouldn't get eliminated. Chris held out a bag, but didn't say anything immediately. He paused, allowing for dramatic effect.

...

...

...

...

…Mike

Mike sighed in relief as he caught the bag. Sierra and Tyler looked at each other nervously.

"Competitors, I only have one more barf bag with me." Chris said "One of you is going home today. Tyler, you're here because you cost your team the game when you snapped the boat in half, drenched your entire team and probably caused Courtney to go to therapy." Courtney glared at the host.

"Sierra you're here because...well, you're a creep. A creepy creep. Sometimes people don't like creeps. And you're the creepiest of creeps. I can think of at least one person who might want to see you go."

Sierra nervously looked around, not seeing Cody looking directly at her.

"The final barf bag goes to…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

...

…

...Tyler.

The jock sighed and grabbed his oncoming bag.

"Oh yeah, sock it to me." screamed Macarthur. The two went for a high five. They connected, but Tyler winced in sheer pain from Macarthur's high five. He sat back down clutching his wrist.

Sierra looked around, panting furiously.

"What? I'm the first one gone? How can this be?"

"Like I said" quipped Chris "Creepy"

Sierra breaths became rapid, she looked like she was foaming at the mouth. She turned around and lunged at Cody. Thankfully, Cody was able to move out of the way in time. Cody ran around the elimination room, most of their teammates looking on. Sierra swiped at him, in a desperate fan girly way.

Cody finally ran behind Chris.

"Don't you have something for this?" asked Cody, worried.

Chris just smirked "Of course I do. Chef?"

Suddenly Chef appeared with a tranq. gun. He shot a dart, nailing Sierra in the shoulder. Quickly, she fell down in a heap, snoozing away.

Within moments, the still unconscious fan girl had a parachute strapped to her. Chef picked her up and threw her out of the plane. Cody looked on worriedly.

"Is she going to be okay?"

"Relax" said Chris, putting an arm over Cody's shoulders "If all goes well, the parachute should release before she hits the ground. But that's a big 'if.' But I'm not responsible for any of the already eliminated competitors, so I don't care."

Cody looked at the host, worriedly "What?"

Chris then shoved Cody back towards his team, before looking at the camera.

"One down, 21 to go. Who will be the next to bite the dust? What will Samey do now that her team hates her guts? And what is Gwen's little secret? Find out next time on another action packed episode of Total...Drama...Legends."


	3. La-La-La-LA

A shot of the busy canal in Venice was shown, with Chris talking over it. "Last time on Total Drama Legends. Italy! It certainly is beautiful, ain't it? Too bad we never had a chance to enjoy it. The competitors were finally given names, before competing in their first challenge. A canal race! But even more interestingly, Duncan and Zoey formed an agreement to get Duncan back with Gwen. Meanwhile, Amy turned her entire team against her sister and Cody swore off his goth crush forever. In the end, Tyler cost his team the game by creating one wicked wipeout to start off this season. But surprisingly, Sierra was the first to go home. A part of me will miss that crazy fan…"

The camera cuts to Chris on the McPlane. "But yet again, I'll probably get over it. Where will our competitors end up next? And which team will be caught on the wrong side of the camera? Find out right now, on Total...Drama...Legends!"

The Bobcats were enjoying their time in first class. Alejandro, Lightning and Scott were relaxing in a hot tub, Dawn was meditating and Jo and Heather were fighting over the remote for the large TV. Samey was sitting at the end of a dining table, enjoying the leftovers from her Italian dinner reward from last episode. Or at least, she was trying to. She stared unhappily at her plate of spaghetti.

**Confessional (Samey): **I still don't get it. I thought my team would at least tolerate me, but for whatever reason they hate me. I'd be surprised if I wasn't the next one going home. I'm going to have to step it up in the next challenge.

Static.

Samey decided she wasn't hungry anymore, so pushed her chair back. It stopped suddenly with a thud, followed by an 'ow'. Samey turned to see what she hit. She looked to see her twin sister rubbing her ankle. Samey looked at her, confused.

"Are you serious?" Samey said

Amy looked up at her "What? You're the one who backed into me."

"Yeah, like you didn't mean to be right behind me." Samey rolled her eyes "You always take the chance to play the victim."

To Samey's surprise, Amy sniffed, rubbing her eyes. She was crying.

"I'm sorry, ok?! I can't always watch where I'm going. It's not like you couldn't see what was behind you." She sniffled some more, rubbing her arms against her eyes.

Samey was about to call her out when she was interrupted.

"What's going on here?" Leshawna charged in. She looked over at the crying Amy. She then angrily glared at Samey. "What is your problem?!"

Samey stammered at the sudden response from Leshawna.

"Oh, you're not such a big person when you're not standing over your sister, right?"

"I- but- she- she's not-"

Leshawna cut her off "What? She's not worthy enough to be treated like a normal person? Get your cheerleader, blonde, pointed nose out of my face before you learn how Leshawna does this the hard way!"

Samey was gobsmacked. If it was Amy, she would have no issue standing up to her. But this was different. This was someone who Samey had never met, standing up for her sister.

Leshawna turned around and helped the still sniffling Amy up to her feet.

Alejandro, Scott and Lightning had seen everything. The Jock laughed at what he was seeing and nudged the Latino.

"Girls. Ain't they something?" he said.

Alejandro stammered for an answer. "Well- They certainly are interesting creatures."

Lightning and Scott looked at each other with raised eyebrows.

"Ok calm down, Romeo." Scott finally said "But you are right, we do need to watch out for them."

Now Alejandro looked at him weirdly.

Scott continued "Trust me, I've already been beaten and betrayed by two different girls on both of my seasons. And one of them is on our team. But I think with the three of us, we can take them down."

Alejandro interjected "Are you suggesting sabotage?"

Scott raised his arms up as if he was defending himself "No, of course not. As the smartest player in my season, I know not to use the same plan twice." Lightning nodded at this, even if Scott was technically insulting his intelligence. "What I propose is we form a guys alliance. The three of us. I mean we probably have the best track record. Alejandro, Lightning, you've both made it into the finals, and I've made it into the final four twice. I say we work together to get rid of the least important players first, then once we get closer to the merge, go for the stronger players. You in?"

Scott put his hand in the middle of the hot tub. Lightning followed suit.

"Oh yeah. Team Dude 2.0."

The Redneck and the Jock looked at Alejandro. He wasn't as certain. He hesitated, but put his hand in as well. The three looked at each other confidently.

**Confessional (Scott): "**Of course I don't trust either of those two. I'm just going to ride on their backs until the merge and drop them as soon as I can."

**Confessional (Alejandro): "**Scott is certainly useful, I'll admit that. But usefulness can only last so long. Eventually he'll run out and that will be the cause for elimination."

**Confessional (Lightning): "**If either of those wannabes think they can match this muscle, they will feel the thunder, then they will experience the lightning! SHA-BAM!"

Static

Unbeknownst to the trio, Jo had been listening in on them. She thought about what she would do, before running off.

Meanwhile, in the loser class, The Shark Cowboys were grimacing at their quarters. With the exception of one.

Cody smirked as he hummed to himself. Gwen and Courtney noticed this.

"Someone's happy" commented Gwen.

"I'm ecstatic" said Cody in delight "I no longer have to deal with any crazed super fans. I can keep one toothbrush and I can sleep without being sniffed, hugged or drooled on. I don't even care if I have to sleep here, I'd rather take the rats than Sierra anyday."

"Speak for yourself" protested Noah. "Some of us prefer to be spoiled."

"Some of us also prefer not to be insulted" spoke up Jasmine, glaring at the brainiac.

Noah rolled his eyes. "You're a giant. It's not an insult, it's a fact. I could make a clone of myself, stand him on my shoulders and still not be as tall as you."

"Well, you can still be a little nicer."

"Sorry, hon. Nice isn't my style. Especially if we're in a competition like this."

Jasmine stood up, not realizing what was above her. Due to her height, she bumped into an overhead compartment. She rubbed her head. Noah snickered at this.

Macarthur and Sanders were watching with excitement.

"Can I just say?" said Macarthur, leaning towards her partner. "This might be better than the Race."

"But we won the Race..." Sanders said, confused.

Macarthur ignored the statement and continued watching intently.

**Confessional (Jasmine): "**I get it. I'm new. I'm tall. I'm a threat. But that is no excuse to be a stuck up windbag, like that pencil neck geek. He better realize who he's messing with."

**Confessional (Owen): "**I like how Noah is so competitive when he wants to be. Maybe if he was like that more often, we would've won a reality show. Though, I'm not sure how calling people names will help us, but I trust my little buddy."

Static.

Back in first class, Duncan and Zoey were talking.

"So how do I get back with Gwen?" asked Duncan, bluntly.

"Well…" started Zoey "The obvious answer would be that you need to be nice."

"I don't do nice" interrupted Duncan

"Well, in All-Stars, you were kinda nice-"

Zoey stopped when she saw Duncan glaring back at her.

"Ok...Let's just say you were having an off day." Zoey awkwardly stated. "Ok. Let's start with what went wrong first and work from there."

Duncan nervously scratched the back of his head"Well...uh...I guess it started when...she started ignoring me."

Zoey raised an eyebrow "Well, there's gotta be more than that. Didn't she want to make amends with Courtney?"

"I guess so…" Duncan sighed

"Maybe she felt being in a relationship with you...would've been awkward?"

Duncan looked at her confused "What are you talking about?"

"Well...think about it. You dated Courtney...then you started dating Gwen...while you were still dating Courtney."

"But we weren't dating at the time." Duncan interjected. Zoey felt like she was talking to a pile of rocks.

"Did either of you two say you wanted to break up?"

Duncan folded his arms and looked away. "I guess not..." he said sheepishly

Zoey clasped her hands together "Ok...we're getting places...now-"

"So you're saying it's her fault we broke up?" Duncan cut her off.

Zoey's jaw almost dropped. "No. No, I'm not saying that at all." She sighed and put her palm on her forehead.

Suddenly, "What she's saying is that you can't have both of the things you want, even if you can't decide." came a voice.

Duncan and Zoey jumped. Sitting right next to them on an arm rest, in lotus position, was Dawn. Duncan looked in disgust. "Where the hell did she come from?"

Zoey held her arms out in front of her. "Easy, Duncan. She-"

"And what do you mean by 'even if I can't decide?' " Duncan shouted, still talking to Dawn.

"Well, it's all over your aura."

"My what?" Duncan said, putting a hand to his chest.

"Sorry, Duncan" Zoey sighed "Dawn has a habit of doing that."

"Habit of doing what?"

Zoey was about to speak, but was interrupted. "Your aura is like a giant tug of war. It can't seem to make up its mind on who you want to pick. Do you pick the girl that you have a lot in common with, or do you go with the one that drives you crazy, but in a good way?"

Duncan's mouth was agape at the MoonChild's speech. He couldn't comprehend what was just said. Zoey looked up at him, understanding his shock.

"That" she said.

**Confessional (Duncan): **"It's like Izzy and Harold fused together and the result was some weird, super crazy, nerdy...thing."

Static

Jo walked around first class, looking for someone. She finally came to a recliner chair. On the chair was a napping Heather. Jo sighed at what she was about to do. She pulled off the sleeping mask off Heather's face. Heather annoyingly opened her eyes in anger. She glared at Jo and stood up, coming face to face with the Tomboy.

"I'll give you three seconds before they make this show PG-13 after I-"

Jo held up her arms to Heather. "Look, I don't like you and you don't like me…"

"Did you just figure that out, genius?" Heather scoffed.

Jo held back her anger. "...But I think you and I should-"

Suddenly the intercom sounded out. Jo and Heather looked up.

"All competitors stop what you're doing and head to the baggage area. Stop any games, chit-chats and any possible alliances and head down."

Heather, like an absolute diva, flounced past Jo.

"You heard the man…" she said slyly.

Jo groaned in annoyance and followed her.

At the loser class, the Shark Cowboys were heading to the baggage area too. Cody walked behind Gwen and Courtney. As the latter walked by, a figure stared at him from outside the plane. Cody paused for a moment, thinking someone was watching him. He turned back, but as soon as he did, the figure disappeared. Cody turned back, unsure of how to feel.

At the baggage area, Chris stood in front of the competitors. "Competitors, welcome! I trust everyone is well rested and ready for our next challenge?"

Most of the competitors looked at him annoyed, most notably the Cowboys, who didn't like their sleeping arrangements.

"You're probably wondering where our next challenge will take place" continued Chris "You'll be happy to know that our next destination is in the City of Angels, L.A."

"Louisiana?" asked Tyler. Most of the competitors gave him weird looks.

"No, Tyler." groaned Chris "First off, not a city. Second, I mean the city with the most beautiful beaches, tall palm trees and the biggest stars- not including myself- of all time, Los Angeles."

Most of the competitors clamoured at this. Everyone except Scott.

**Confessional (Scott): **"I'm not much of a traveler. My Papi always said you won't learn anything out of life if you're constantly moving. The furthest he's ever been from the farm is two blocks down to swipe our neighbor's tractor."

**Confessional (Heather): ** Finally. Chris finally got it right. He realized exactly where someone like me belongs.

**Confessional (Lightning): **Aw, yeah. Lightning is going to shine like a star and everyone will have their cameras pointed at me. Me! Me! Sha-Me!

Static.

Duncan wasn't as enthusiastic as everyone else. He simply crossed his arms, not caring about everyone else. But he did notice someone staring at him. Macarthur. She glared at him with great intensity.

"Can I help you, officer?" he finally said.

"Now listen here, Mohawk Boy, I saw what you did last season. We don't appreciate things like that."

Duncan smirked and faced the Cadet. "Really? 'Cause I thought it was pretty cool when I blew up that mansion."

Macarthur angrily pointed at Duncan's face "Oh that was nothing. I was talking about your pitiful performance. To not make it into the final five, after breaking things off with Gwen. I was kinda hoping for some sort of redemption thing with you, but no. We didn't get that. We got some lazy excuse for a showing by you."

Duncan was caught off guard. Most notably by the "breaking things off with Gwen" line. He angrily glared at the Cadet, getting right in her face. "Listen here, copper. I did not break things off with Gwen she-" But Duncan cut things off when he noticed Zoey telling him to be quiet and pointing. Duncan looked to see everyone staring at him, except Gwen. Not only was she not looking at Duncan, but she seemed to be intentionally avoiding his gaze.

Duncan stopped, took a moment to realize what he was doing, and angrily looked back at MaCarthur.

"Whatever happened in that season," he said, gritting his teeth and much quieter "is none of your business. Stay out of it before I do something that'll put me in jail for a loooong time."

The two stared closer and closer to each other, glaring more and more intently. Macarthur was about to say something when her partner pulled her away.

"Ok, Macarthur. You need to calm down right now." Sanders dragged her away to her team, as the competitors walked towards their teams. Duncan was about to yell back, but he looked around and noticed the teams moving. He looked back at Macarthur and Sanders. Sanders kept pushing the hot headed cadet away. She looked back with an awkward and apologetic look. Duncan looked more confused at this point, but sighed and turned around.

**Confessional (Duncan): "**I've dealt with my fair share of cops, officers and wardens, but this...cadet. She's different. I heard she's dating one of Geoff's friends or something, but...how does that other cadet deal with her...I almost feel sorry for-. Wait what am I saying? No. No, I don't. I don't feel anything for her."

Static.

Chris walked over to Cody.

"Hey, Cody how ya doing?"

Cody was surprised at the question. He stuttered, but replied. "Uh, I'm doing fine, Chris...Thanks?"

Chris started snickering. Cody looked bemused at this.

"Is...everything ok?" he asked

"Oh, oh yeah." Chris said, still chuckling "Everything's just fine."

Cody nervously stared at Chris as he walked past him.

"Attention, competitors! I have just received word that we're about to land very soon."

"How soon?" asked Courtney.

As soon as she had asked that, Chris buckled a harness to himself in the baggage area. "Now."

At that moment, The McPlane, touched down on the runway. The McPlane jolted as a result, sending the competitors off balance. Some were able to barely hold themselves standing up right. Lightning was sent straight up, banging his head on the ceiling. He came back down, still standing, with scratches and bruises on his head. Owen was set off balance too and was sent rolling around the baggage area, crashing into other competitors, rolling over them like a boulder. Gwen was almost thrown up, but Duncan who happened to be standing next to her, saw this. Thinking quickly, he grabbed her by her feet, but instead of being put down on her feet, she was unceremoniously slammed face first into the ground. Duncan, still holding her feet, looked extremely guilty at the down facing goth. But the person who bore the worst of the turbulence was Tyler, who was bounced around like a kernel in a microwave.

The only person who wasn't affected by the turbulence was Dawn. She stood there, both feet firmly planted on the ground. She looked around as if nothing was happening.

Soon, the plane had come to a complete stop. The hatch opened. Chris walked out, without a scratch on him. The competitors were behind him, all in a pile, groaning in pain. Dawn walked out, almost exactly the same way Chris did.

**Confessional (Leshawna): **"That girl is something else!"

Static.

The competitors were getting up, groaning in agony as they struggled to stand. Zoey was still laying on the floor, when someone walked up to her. Mike helped his girlfriend up. Zoey smiled at him.

"Hey Zoe, you alright?" he said

"Hey Mike" she replied "I'm fine, thanks for-" Zoey's gaze wandered to something. She saw Duncan staring at Courtney who was helping Gwen up to her feet. Courtney looked concerned, but also angry.

"I-I'll talk to you later…" Zoey said quickly. She planted a kiss on Mike's cheek and ran past him. Mike looked back to see where Zoey was going. He looked flabbergasted.

**Confessional (Mike): **"Ok. They're on the same team, I get that. But...is something going on that I don't know about. I guess Zoey would tell me if something was up...right?"

Static.

Zoey had run up to Duncan. The ex-juvenile wasn't looking happy. He looked upset and very guilty. Zoey walked up very cautiously. Courtney had picked Gwen up to her feet. She was rubbing her head. She had a bruise on her forehead. Courtney then turned and again angrily glared at Duncan. Zoey took a few seconds to find her words.

"Everything alright?" she asked, nervously.

After a few seconds, Duncan turned around. He didn't look directly at Zoey and scratched the back of his head. He sighed.

"I uh- I screwed up. Big time."

Zoey gave him a sympathetic look.

**Confessional (Zoey): **"This might be harder than I thought."

Static

The Bobcats and Cowboys were standing side by side. Tyler smiled and swayed from side to side, still feeling the effects from the plane landing.

Chris stood in front of the challenge destination.

"Alright competitors" he started "Today's challenge will be-"

"EXTREME!" shouted the still dizzy Jock.

"Right... Anyways, today's challenge is going to be an interesting one. Since we're in L.A. where the biggest stars of today are made."

"Or in Chris' case, the 70s" Noah whispered. Most of the competitors snickered at this. Chris grimaced at the brainiac's joke. But he continued anyway.

"...And what has become the most important thing for today's stars more than ever?"

"Attention?" Asked Heather

"Looks?" Asked Alejandro

"Charity work?" Asked Courtney

"A lack of a criminal record?" Asked Duncan, dully.

"Sha-Me?" Asked Lightning

Tyler answered the question too, but because of his current state, it only came out as complete nonsense. Chris snapped his fingers.

"That's correct, Tyler. An important self-image. These days, with all the technology and social media, anything we say can and will be televised, recorded and reviewed. Sometimes, people will say something stupid and whoever hears or sees it will blow it up to extreme proportions, creating a hole that the celebrity may never escape from. So for this challenge, I have something unique for you."

Chris then turned around and revealed the challenge. It was two large walkways, with three boxes on both of them.

"This challenge will consist of three parts. The first will involve dealing with the paparazzi. You will have one of two options. Either avoid them altogether or answer their questions. Give them a bad answer or just be rude to them, and you go to the back of the line. The second will be a prompt challenge. You will be given a situation and depending how you respond, you will either move on or go back to the line. If your audience meter reaches the top, you will go to the third and final part of the challenge. In this challenge, competitors will be given a trivia question on movies, if you get it right, you've completed the whole course."

"What does that last challenge have anything to do with public image?" asked Sanders

"Not much. Honestly, we don't think most of you would make it past the first challenge, so we decided to make the last one easy. Now get in places, people."

The teams stood across from each other in two lines. Samey nervously stood in between her teammates. Duncan stood in front of the line for his team and Noah stood in front for his team. Noah eyed him. Duncan tried to ignore him, but it didn't last long.

"Do you have a problem, toothpick?" he said angrily.

Noah smirked "I watched All-Stars, I know why you're here."

Duncan's eyes widened. "What are you talking about?"

"Dude, I have an IQ that reaches triple digits, I can tell what a desperate man looks like."

Duncan was about to say something back, but his gaze fell on Gwen. He stared, with a mixture of guilt and sadness. Noah noticed this and widened his smirk.

"See? You're one step away from falling into a cesspool of misery. To not only lose two of your girlfriends, but for both of them to come together over their hatred of you." Duncan looked away, trying to ignore the brainiac's taunts. They continued. "Face it, dude. Every girl you'll ever come in contact with will all say the same thing. 'Why did I ever-"

"Hey, knock it off!"

Noah and Duncan were caught off guard by the sudden yell. Zoey glared menacingly at Noah.

"If you have a problem with him, you better come over here and..." Zoey stammered "and...apologize...or I'll...I'll...knock you...down...on the ground. And I won't help you up. Unless you were really hurt."

Noah rolled his eyes and turned back around. Zoey looked back at Duncan. He was still looking away, rubbing his arm across his face. Zoey frowned.

"I'm sorry about that, Duncan. But that guy...don't listen to him. He's not worth it-"

Duncan leaned back up. Surprisingly, he didn't look upset, he was actually chuckling to himself and trying to hold it back. Zoey looked confused.

"Sorry" he said "That was...hilarious...that threat was pathetic." He keeled over, still trying to hold in his laughter. Zoey turned away, annoyed that her attempt to defend her teammate was laughed at.

"But, thanks."

Zoey paused, then turned around. Now, Duncan wasn't laughing, he was looking right at Zoey.

"I appreciate the attempt." He gave a small smile. Zoey slowly returned it.

Noah again rolled his eyes at seeing this, but his teammate behind him had also been watching. Sanders.

**Confessional (Sanders): **Is it weird that I feel bad for an ex-criminal? I mean, I know he's not on my team, but...that guy was a real jerk to him

**Confessional (Owen): **Ever since the Ridonculous Race, Noah made a commitment to step up his game and win the next show. I'm not sure how throwing insults at others will help his game, but I'm sure he's onto something. After all it's Duncan, he can take it.

Static

Duncan and Noah both got ready to start the challenge. Duncan looked determined and angry.

Chris began the countdown. "3...2...1...Go!" Duncan sprinted towards the first door, while Noah simply strolled forward.

"Wait a minute." cried Jo to Chris "Their team is down a player. That gives them an advantage. How is that fair?"

Chris pondered to himself "You're right I didn't think about that. Tell you what, I don't do anything and we can skip the song portion of the episode, deal?"

"Deal" Jo said quickly.

Duncan just made it into the first door and closed it behind him. He looked at what awaited him.

"What the…" he said

Surrounding the room, moving across the floor, were several moving pieces of cardboard. Each of them had faces and clothes painted on them. In addition to that, some had painted-on cameras and stapled notepads on them too. A TV came down from the ceiling. It flashed, revealing Chris on the screen.

"For this challenge" he said "You have two options of facing the paparazzi. Either face them head on and answer all their questions, while maintaining a healthy self-image, or go around them all together."

Duncan looked down, he noticed he was standing on a yellow dot, surrounded by a red floor.

The Chris recording continued.

"Stepping on the red space means you choose the paparazzi section."

Duncan looked at the monitor

"Wait, how am I supposed to get around them…"

"If you have any questions at all, I can't answer them because I am a recording...good luck."

The monitor went black, leaving behind the annoyed Duncan.

In the other room, Noah was getting ready for his challenge. He studied the room. He noticed that, on the walls, were handles. They wrapped around the middle of the wall, starting at the door where the challenge started and ending on the other side. This would mean competitors would have to climb the bars, like a jungle gym to get across. Noah took one more glance at them, before shaking his head.

"Not gonna even try," he said to himself. As soon as he stepped on the red, a cardboard figure stopped and moved towards him.

"What is your opinion of Chris McLean?" it said. It's mouth didn't move, but on its neck was a duct taped crappy speaker.

Noah took a moment to think about the question.

"He is a valued host, with a million dollar smile and...he's a way better host than Don from the Ridonculous Race."

The cardboard figure paused for a moment, before dinging and moving back to where it was. Noah smirked as he walked away.

"This is too easy…"

Duncan was still struggling to find a way around the paparazzi.

**Confessional (Duncan): "**I don't like reporters. They twist your words into something completely different. This one time, I was on the news because they thought I pushed a kid in front of a moving car for no reason. I did him a favor. He told me he didn't want to go to school that day, so I kept him out of it for the rest of the year. You don't know my story, Chad from Channel 8."

Static.

Duncan kept studying the room. He finally noticed the bars and realized what he had to do. He smiled to himself.

"No way is that pencil geek going to beat me."

Noah was still going through the reporters.

"...I truly believe our country can be saved by McLean's initiative…"

Duncan made it into the second room. There was a slightly elevated ramp. He walked onto it. As soon as he stepped on the platform, the screen in front of him lit up and displayed some words. Duncan read them aloud.

"You're a fitness guru and one of your idols just passed away. You have three seconds to strike a meaningful pose in the sunset." A countdown clock started 3...2…

"Wait, where am I supposed to look?"

Duncan didn't see the screen behind him that showed a picture of a beautiful sunset on a beach. He started to turn, when suddenly there was a flash. Duncan blinked, then rubbed his eyes. After regaining his composure, he noticed the picture on the screen. He stood in front of a beautiful sunset background, but the camera caught him mid turn, completely ruining the photo.

Chris' voice was heard over the loudspeaker. "And it looks like Duncan is the first to fail the challenge. Now he must return to his team, and wait to start again."

Duncan sighed in annoyance.

Back at the entrance, Amy was whispering something into Alejandro's ear. Simultaneously he was glaring at the evil sister's twin. Samey was oblivious to what was going on.

**Confessional (Alejandro): **"That cheerleader thinks she can do better than Heather simply because she's blonde? Heather is an angel...in the sense that she has the looks one. Not that she would act like one, she hates angels."

He paused.

"P-Please don't tell her I said that."

Static

Duncan walked embarrassingly back to his team and to the end of the line. Some of his teammates (most notably Jo, Lightning and Heather) were snickering. Zoey watched him with worry. But now she was up. She headed into the challenge door. Chris' voice was heard again over the loudspeaker.

"Noah is now done with the first challenge. The next competitor on the Cowboys can start. But you are not allowed to pass Noah."

Sanders was up next. She looked a little nervous, but her partner gave her a reassuring pat on the back.

"You'll do fine, partner. Remember, you're the brain. I'm the muscle. So you totally got this."

Sanders gave a small smile. She started off, sprinting to the challenge door. When she was sure Macarthur couldn't see her face, she frowned.

**Confessional (Sanders): ** "I don't like having to abandon my partner. At least in the Race, we were paired up so we never had to worry about that. But now, it's different. And...I'm not sure how to feel about it."

Static

Zoey was effortlessly swinging around the paparazzi, while Noah had just finished the second part of the challenge. Both competitors easily finished their challenges, becoming the first two to finish the challenge. Sanders was also swinging around the paparazzi.

"Wow" said Chris "You guys must really have something to hide from everyone…" he chuckled over the loudspeaker. "Alright, next two are up."

Samey and Macarthur were up next. Samey tried to look ready, but didn't seem sure. Macarthur looked ready for anything, though. She bolted towards the door, practically crashing through it. A few seconds later, loud smashing sounds could be heard. Most of the Cowboys nervously looked at the source of the sound. A few more seconds later, Macarthur walked sheepishly out from the side entrance, with splinters in her hands. Her teammates looked at her confused. She smiled, embarrassed.

"I thought-" she started "I thought they were attacking me…" She walked to the back of the line.

Meanwhile later, Samey had just made it to the situation challenge. On the screen it read: Your ex-spouse is spreading rumors about you, in an attempt to damage your reputation. How do you respond?

Samey thought about it for a moment. "I guess, if it were me, I would deny them in a non aggressive way and...call out Amy's- I mean my spouse's past behavior?

The screen was idle for a second, before showing a thumbs up. Samey smiled and moved onto the next challenge.

**Confessional (Samey): **"Maybe if I can do good in these challenges, my teammates will start to like me. Or will that just make them angrier?"

Static

Back at the entrance, Lightning was heading toward the door. Heather watched him with disinterest. Suddenly something pulled her shoulder. Surprised, she turned around only to be met with Jo. She angrily glared at her.

"Do you have a problem with me? Because, if you do, get in line because you-" Heather ranted

"Listen here, Twig!" Jo spoke up, aggressively. This caught Heather off guard. Jo continued. "In case you don't already know, we are in danger. Danger of going home early. The guys are already making an alliance and we're probably on the chopping block."

Heather didn't say anything at first, but she did seem intrigued.

"Jock-strap, country boy and Latino loser all want to get rid of us. I say we get rid of them before they get to us."

Heather turned to look at the rest of her team. She noticed Scott and Alejandro whispering to each other. Then she smiled, evilly.

"I've got an idea." she said, not looking at Jo

**Confessional (Heather):** If there's one thing I know Alejandro can't resist, it's taking off his shirt, latin music and, of course...me.

Static

The competition continued. Many players from both teams were able to fully pass, even Tyler. But some players were having trouble.

Lightning pointed angrily at the screen in front of him. He was in the trivia portion.

"How am I supposed to know what Mel whateva his name is yelled in 'Braveheart?' he yelled. The screen went red with a white X. Lightning threw his hand down in frustration.

Lightning walked to the rest of his teammates who had yet to finish. Including himself, Scott and Duncan were the other two members of the Bobcats left. Meanwhile, on the Shark Cowboys, six players were in their line.

Meanwhile, Heather and Jo were about to make their move. Heather flounced up to Alejandro. She sighed dramatically, catching the attention of the latino.

"Oh, Alejandro. I don't know what to do. I feel as though I'm the next one going home. No one likes me and I don't…"

Jo watched as Alejandro played right into Heather's game. Then she saw that Scott had just finished the game and her grin widened.

**Confessional (Jo): **I don't care what Heather does at this point, but if I can get in that alliance, I can get that annoying Dudling out of here.

Static.

Duncan was also able to finish the challenge, leaving just Lightning to finish. Some of the Cowboys were able to finish too, but they still had four competitors who had to finish.

"199...6?" said Owen, unsure. His answer led to ding, signifying his answer was correct and he finished the challenge.

Courtney around the paparazzi with the handles. She was about halfway through when one of the handles gave away. Courtney was caught off balance and ended up hitting one of the cardboard figures, knocking its head off. She stared in worry, before Chris' voice came over the speaker, telling her she had to start over.

Macarthur jumped around outside, getting pumped up. She ran into the first door, but instead of running straight forward, she jumped. Somehow, she was able to not only avoid kicking any of the figures, but she landed on the other side, her feet just missing the red space.

"Holy cow, that actually worked." she said, astonished.

Meanwhile, Scott watched the door, hoping Lightning would run through at any moment.

"Hey, Tank top." came a voice.

Scott didn't even need to turn to know who that was. "What do you want, Jo?"

"I need to talk to you."

"Yeah, well I don't, so beat it."

Jo smirked. "Alright, I guess your alliance will be short lived."

This time, Scott turned his head, curious but also nervous as to what Jo was saying.

"Wha-What alliance? It's only episode 3, it's too early for that."

"Yeah, don't play dumb. I hate to admit it, but you're smarter than you look and I know about your little teamup."

Scott paused, thinking to himself. Reluctantly, he faced Jo.

"How do you know?" he whispered

Jo was about to answer, but she thought for a moment. "I heard through one of your own teammates." she lied.

Scott pondered. He then looked at Alejandro, who was still ogling at Heather. Jo stepped in front of his gaze.

"Not him. I'll give you a hint. He's dumber than a bag of bricks, has a severe addiction to protein powder and outlasted both you _and _me in our season."

Scott raised an eyebrow at this. "Why would Lightning tell you about the alliance? He hates you."

Jo shrugged. "Well, I guess he just wanted to brag that he formed the first alliance of the season, and if Lightning does something first, you know he'll tell anyone listening."

Scott stared at Jo, unsure. Jo hoped her lie would work.

"Alright" said Scott "Say I believe you, what do you want out of it?"

Jo grinned again. "Two things. One, I want in the alliance."

"You want to be in an alliance with Lightning?"

Jo held up two of her fingers. "And that's the second thing I want, Lightning gone."

Scott folded his arms "You want me to get rid of Lightning this early? He's one of our strongest players." Jo glared at this, leading to Scott backing down. "I-I mean...in terms of...size."

Jo was about to retort, when the intercom sounded.

"And the Shark Cowboys win!"

Scott and Jo gasped at this.

"WHAT?!"

"If you guys were paying attention," Chris continued "The Bobcats may have had the lead for a while, but you needed every player to finish. But it seems your resident Jock hasn't seen a single movie that isn't a workout video." On a nearby TV screen several pictures of Lightning on the final part of the challenge were shown. Each of them showed him getting progressively angrier as he failed again and again. The screen then went black. Chris continued. "Cowboys, you're our winners today. You'll be spending your time in first class tonight, while the Bobcats will be sending their first player home."

Scott and Jo watched as the Cowboys celebrated. Jo then turned to Scott. "He might be your biggest, but like I said. Bag. Of. Bricks. Let me know when you make your decision." She walked away, leaving Scott to think to himself. Suddenly, Lightning walked up to him, annoyed.

"Dumb game, Lightning don't have time for movies. But he does deserve an Oscar for these." He flexed his pecs and arms. "SHA-BAM!" He looked at Scott "So, who we sending home? 'Cause I want to get rid of that cheerleader chick who said Jo was better than me."

Scott looked at him, unsure. Finally he gave a nervous smile. "Yeah, we'll send her home. Definitely her."

Lightning ran off, towards Alejandro. Again, Scott was left to think to himself. Unbeknownst to him, Amy had been listening to him the entire time.

Back on the plane, the Bobcats sat in the elimination room. Leshawna sat next to Amy, who devilishly smirked at Samey. The good twin was looking nervous.

**Confessional (Samey):** "Ok. I did good today. I was the first to finish the challenge and didn't even say anything to anyone."

Samey smiled to herself, before panicking.

"Oh no what if they think I'm a snob? What if they think I'm too good? What if-"

Static.

Lightning, Scott and Alejandro all sat together. The jock was smirking, while Scott seemed antsy. Alejandro noticed this.

"Are you ok, Scott?" he asked.

Scott's eyes darted around. "Yeah, yeah. I'm good. Don't worry about it."

Alejandro was unsure about this, but said nothing. Jo watched the three intently.

Chris stood in front with his tray of barf bags.

"You've all cast your votes and made your decision. Tonight, eleven will become ten and the teams will be even again. Someone's going home and they aren't coming back." He paused, as the Bobcats looked at each other. "The barf bags go to Zoey, Duncan, Leshawna and Dawn." All four competitors grabbed their bags, relieved. "Alejandro, Scott and Heather, you three are also safe." Again the competitors took their oncoming bags. "Only four left. Amy and...Jo. Here's your bags." Amy grabbed her bag as did Jo, who sighed in relief. She looked down at Scott, who could tell she was looking at him.

Chris paused

"Now we're down to two." Samey looked around at her team, panicking.

"Wha-why am I- Did I do too good in my challenge? I can slow down, if you guys want me to..."

"What? You think you're better than us?" Shouted Leshawna.

Samey didn't mean to sound like she was bragging, but she realized her poor choice of words. "No. No I meant that-"

"Ahem" Chris cleared his throat. "Samey, making new friends as always." he quipped. Samey slunked down, waiting for her fate.

"The last barf bag goes to…."

Samey closed her eyes, hoping for a miracle. Lightning simply smirked, knowing he wouldn't be going home this early.

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

"Samey."

The good twin's eyes sprang open, as the barf bag fell in her lap. She smiled in relief and actually shouted a "YES," before realizing her team was staring at her, and she quietly looked down. Lightning was not taking it well.

"What? How is this possible? You can't eliminate Lightning. Lightning was going to win it all. He was going to go all the way." His eyes latched onto Scott and Alejandro. "How dare you do this to, Lightning? You're gonna pay for this."

Alejandro looked at Scott, confused. Scott tried to find an excuse, but was cut off.

"See ya later, Dudling. Now you'll have more time to watch as many movies as you want."

Lightning's focus on his ex-alliance was thrown off by Jo's taunt. Long enough for Chef to grab him by the back and throw him off the plane. Chris then tossed a parachute after him.

Jo sat back down. Scott and Alejandro looked at her, then back to each other. Alejandro was suspicious of Scott, who shrugged. The Latino turned away far enough to not see Jo whispering to Scott.

"You don't need to thank me. You only need to do one thing and you know what that is." She leaned back upright, leaving Scott to think about what he was about to do.

**Confessional (Scott): "**I hate Jo more than Lightning, but I've gotten further than Jo in both of our seasons. I already know how to beat her. She thinks this will help her, but I'm one step ahead."

**Confessional (Amy): **"Samey should've gone home today, but she got lucky. But now I have something that guarantees she'll be eliminated."

**Confessional (Noah): **"I'm probably going to get a lot of hate for what I said to Duncan. But I don't care. This is not the same Noah that was the first voted off from his team. Twice. This is a new Noah that actually wants to win. I know in movies, the jerk always gets his comeuppance. But this is not a movie. Sometimes, you have to be a jerk, if you want to win."

Static

"Woah" said Chris, who had been watching on a monitor. "Talk about having a dark side. Noah might actually be someone to look out for this season. I'm excited, and you should be too. Jo is part of a new alliance, but will Alejandro accept her? Will Samey ever figure out why no one likes her? And will Sanders' anxiety over being separated from her partner be the end of her? All these questions and more will be answered on the next episode of...Total...Drama...Legends!"

Meanwhile, Cody walked around the first class cabin, looking for something. "Has anyone seen my sock?" He called out. Little did he know, his missing sock was under one of the chairs. A hand reached out for it, and grabbed it, pulling it into the darkness.

Teams:

Vengeful Bobcats: Amy, Samey, Duncan, Zoey, Alejandro, Heather, Jo, Scott, Dawn and Leshawna

Shark Cowboys: Courtney, Gwen, Cody, Sanders, Macarthur, Tyler, Jasmine, Mike, Noah and Owen

Eliminated

22nd: Sierra

21st: Lightning

Votes:

Samey: Amy, Leshawna, Alejandro and Lightning

Lightning: Scott, Jo, Samey, Heather, Duncan, Zoey

Amy: Dawn


	4. They Can Probably Take our Lives

The McPlane is flying through the air. Chris's voice can be heard in the background. "Last time on Total Drama Legends. The competitors learned what it really meant to have a healthy self image. Kinda. Honestly, I'm not entirely sure if they understand it yet. Even more interestingly though, Noah showed a new side that we've never seen from him before, Duncan gave Gwen a wicked face plant, Amy worked to eliminate her sister and Scott, Alejandro and Lightning formed the first alliance of the season. But it didn't last long because Lightning got thrown out, leaving Jo to take his place."

The camera cuts to Chris sitting in the co-pilot's seat, next to Chef, who is flying the plane. "Many people you need to look out for this season. The teams are even once again, but whose freedom, and possibly life, will be taken away? Find out, right here on...Total...Drama...L...egends!"

Chris walked around the plane. "For many of these competitors, it's there 2nd, 3rd or even 4th season. With all these different generations all in one place, we're about to find out exactly how they're making out. Hopefully not with each other."

He opened a curtain, revealing the first class, where all the Shark Cowboys were spending their time. Tyler was relaxing in the hottub, Gwen and Courtney were sitting together eating a meal and Cody was looking for something, underneath a chair. Chris walked up to him.

"Hey, Cody," he said. Cody turned to the host, worried about something. "What's going on?"

Cody sighed "Hey, Chris. I've been better, a lot of my stuff has gone missing."

"Oh" Chris tried to hold back a snicker. "I wonder where they ended up…"

Cody looked up, with a raised eyebrow. "Do you know where they might be?"

Chris turned to walk away, shrugging. "Not a clue, man." Cody watched in confusion and disappointment, as Chris walked away from him.

Courtney and Gwen were enjoying their first class meal. Gwen took a forkful of some of her food. Immediately, her eyes widened and she smiled at the deliciousness of the food.

"You have got to try this" she said, grabbing another fork, sticking it in her food and holding the portion up to Courtney's mouth." Courtney eyed it, debating if she should take a bite. She gave in and bit down onto her food. She gave the same delighted reaction as Gwen and smiled. "Mmmm, you're right, it tastes almost as good as Chef's cooking."

Gwen blinked. Courtney kept face at first, but soon broke into laughter, followed by Gwen. Gwen chuckled a little more, but stopped. Courtney did as well and looked where Gwen was looking.

"Hello Ladies" Chris smiled, standing in front of the two veterans. Neither Gwen or Courtney seemed happy to see him. Chris turned to Gwen. "Hey, Gwen, how's your face?"

The goth rolled her eyes, but before she could respond her CIT friend interrupted. "Well, Chris, since she doesn't look like a saggy 40 year old host with bags under his eyes, I'd say she looks just fine."

Chris twitched in anger, while Gwen laughed. "I'm not...40." he mumbled, gritting his teeth. Soon, the host turned and left. Gwen and Courtney laughed, but Courtney changed the tone.

"But seriously, how is your face?" she asked, worriedly.

Gwen smiled "It's fine. Honestly, it doesn't hurt that much anymore."

Courtney smiled, but quickly glared, looking down. "I don't know what that idiot was thinking of. I can't believe he tried to hurt you."

Gwen looked up "No, I don't think he meant to hurt me, I think he just wanted to…to…" She sighed. Courtney was still upset, but showed sympathy.

**Confessional (Gwen):** "For everyone out there saying I need to get back together with Duncan, I'm over him. I understand there was probably a better way to handle our break up, but it was my decision, so get over it."

Static.

Duncan and Zoey sat next to each other in the loser class. "...I'm sorry for hurting your face." Duncan said, sounding more like he was practicing lines for a play.

Zoey pinched her nose. "Ok that was better...but maybe try not to sound like your mother told you to apologize."

Duncan thought for a moment. "I'm _sorry _for _hurting _your _face_…"

Zoey looked at Duncan, confused. "Why are you putting an emphasis on every other word?"

"I'm not good with apologies." He said meekly.

Zoey stood up in frustration. "We've been at this for two hours." She sighed "I think we need a break." She started walking away.

Duncan was about to stop her, but hesitated and sat back down.

**Confessional (Zoey): **"I'm glad to be helping Duncan and all, but...I don't know, he might be a little helpless, the more I think about it." She frowned and rubbed her arm. "I'm also really missing Mike."

**Confessional (Duncan): **"Ok, let me try this again" He cleared his throat. "I...am...sorry...about...your...face…" He thought about it and grinned. "Got it."

Static.

Alejandro looked with a raised eyebrow at Jo and Scott. The Redneck had just explained the idea of letting Jo into their alliance. He seemed suspicious about the whole thing.

"So…?" said Scott, nervously. "What do you think?"

Alejandro stared for a bit, pinching his chin and squinting his eyes at Jo. Jo crossed her arms, while Scott nervously looked between the Latino and the Jockette. After a few more seconds, Alejandro extended his hand. Jo looked at it, unsure.

"I assume that our old teammate's elimination and your timely arrival was no coincidence…" He paused, letting Scott and Jo look at each other. "...and I think it was a necessary gamble, if we wanted this alliance to work." Jo smiled and she extended her hand in return and the two shook on it. Suddenly, Alejandro's eyes squinted, at Scott, and his brow furrowed. "However, I do not appreciate having my own teammates go behind my back to get what they want. If this happens again, I will turn everyone against you. And don't think I don't know how to." He released his grip and walked away, leaving Scott and Jo to think about what was said. Scott eventually broke the silence. "Welcome to the family…" Jo grinned at her new position. However neither of the alliance members noticed Amy, again, watching the two of them from a distance.

Chris was walking back out of first class. Jasmine sat up and called his name. Chris turned and faced the tall Australian.

"Hey, Chris," she said, "I was wondering something."

"Aren't we all?" said Chris, sarcastically.

Jasmine ignored it and continued. "You brought most of the original cast members of Total drama back for this season, and you brought…" she started counting to herself with her fingers. "...six competitors from Revenge of the Island...but you only brought three of us back. We had the same number of competitors as the second generation, but you only brought three of us. Why?"

"Well Jasmine," Chris started, "To be honest...I didn't really like most of you guys during your season." Jasmine was confused by this, but Chris continued. "I mean you've got the guy who did nothing but make sound effects, the guy who wouldn't shut up about 'being evil,' the girl that was actually evil and almost killed all of us, _Ella_, the guy that tried to take my job and the guy obsessed with zombies."

Jasmine frowned at this "Don't talk about my boyfriend like that."

Chris was not intimidated,"Whatever...you asked." He walked away. Jasmine was about to yell back, but was interrupted.

"You have a boyfriend?"

Jasmine turned around to where the voice came from, but didn't see anything.

"Down here, Melbourne."

Jasmine looked down and when she saw who was speaking to her, she glared.

Noah smirked at her "Good job, you found me."

Jasmine kept her glare "Are you surprised that I have a boyfriend? Do you think I'm incapable of talking to guys?"

Noah kept his smirk "I was going to say no, but then Chris said that he had a fascination with zombies."

Jasmine leaned towards Noah "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Nothing. I just figured that guy dumb enough to believe in something like zombies,would take an interest in-"

Jasmine grabbed him by the collar, gritting her teeth. She lifted him off the ground, so she was face to face with him. "...And what about you? I'd be surprised that some pencil neck geek could ever land a girlfriend?"

Noah remained unfazed by the Aussie. "Easy. Unlike your spouse, my girlfriend will actually make something of her life. She will become a lawyer, and your zombie boyfriend will end up working as a cashier at a 7-11 when he finally realizes his life has been one big waste."

Jasmine was furious. She gripped tighter around the collar. Noah started to become nervous. "Hey, this is my best shirt." he said. Jasmine pulled him closer and was about to do something when…

"Um, excuse me?"

Jasmine turned to Owen, who was sitting next to Noah the entire time.

"Can you please not hurt my little buddy?" he said nervously. "I kinda like him the way he is."

Jasmine looked at Owen, then back to Noah, who gave a nervous smile. Finally she sighed aggressively and dropped him on the floor and walked away. Noah watched as she stomped out.

Owen leaned over to Noah. "Noah, are you alright?" He helped lift Noah to his feet. The brainiac brushed himself off and grinned. "I'm fine," he said, still looking at Jasmine. "Especially since I'm in her head." Noah turned and walked past a very confused Owen.

**Confessional (Owen): **"Wow! My little buddy was not kidding about changing his game plan. I almost don't recognize him."

**Confessional (Noah): **"Like I said, I'm here to win this time. My plan is simple. Throw the newbie off her game by getting in her head. If we win, we win. But if we lose, I can guarantee she will be the next one going home."

Static

"25...26...27...28...29…"

Sanders watched with a dull expression as Macarthur and Tyler did pushups on the floor, counting number by number.

"Are you sure doing pushups on a moving aircraft is a safe idea?" she asked

"Safety isn't a concern when you're staying in shape." Macarthur responded, not bothering to stop her exercise. "Not when you got to be ready for anything that comes your way." She looked up. "Ain't that right, champ?"

Tyler looked up and grinned at his teammates "That's right. If you want to be a great athlete like me, you gotta train your body to be an indestructible machine."

Sanders rolled her eyes. "So all the episodes where you got hurt, you were actually just 'training your body' and you weren't just a massive clutz?"

Macarthur stopped her pushups and looked at her partner. "Now you're getting it. Those times where Tyler got bit by piranhas, fell onto a buoy, fell down the pyramid, caused an avalanche…" While Macarthur meant well, she didn't notice Tyler's embarrassed face from having to recall all his past fails. The Cadet continued. "...zapped by an eel, face planted on the water and fell out of a tree multiple times in a row, were all physical tests for his body to get stronger."

Sanders and Tyler looked at each other, both knowing that Macarthur was completely delusional. "Right…" the two said, trying to keep the illusion.

"I'll see you guys later." Sanders stood up and walked away

Macarthur and Tyler looked at her, then to each other.

"What number were we at?" The Cadet asked

Tyler thought for a moment. "I don't remember. Should we just start over?"

Macarthur's eyes lit up with admiration. She nodded and they continued their pushups.

"1...2...3...4…"

**Confessional (Sanders): **"I'm glad Macarthur's making friends, but I hope she realizes that if she keeps overhyping this guy, she'll just get disappointed. I mean, I don't have any issue with Tyler, I just- He's the reason we lost the first challenge."

Static

Jo had just finished a quick nap in her lounge chair. She stretched and stood up. But seconds after she stood up, she was shoved down back into a chair by someone. That someone was Heather. She rudely walked past.

"Watch where you're going, loser." She said, not even bothering to look at Jo.

Annoyed, Jo got up again and blocked Heather.

"What's your problem?" She asked

"You," Heather tried to walk past Jo again, but the Jockette kept blocking her. Finally Heather stopped trying and looked at Jo. "You're my problem."

"I thought we had an alliance. Back in L.A. when we-"

Heather cut her off and pointed. "-Back in L.A. I saved your sorry butt from being eliminated. Not because I think you're worth keeping around, but because I would rather have you than that annoying 'Sha-loser' on _my_ team."

Jo scoffed "Your team? I'd like to see you say that again when you're the next one going home."

Heather laughed at this. "If you think your alliance will ever be able to take me out, you're beyond saving. Unlike you, I've won a season. I know every trick in the book, so do yourself a favor and stay out of my way and you might make the final ten."

Before Jo could retort, Heather pushed her aside and walked away. Jo glared as the Diva flounced past her. She didn't see Amy, grinning, as she started walking up behind Jo. But before she could take another step, the intercom went off.

"All competitors" Chris' voice sounded "Please strap in, we are about to land at our next destination. Get ready because in this next challenge, you better be brave and have a strong heart because this challenge may take your lives…" Chris laughed as the intercom went off. Jo took her seat. Amy decided she would try again later and took her seat somewhere else.

The McPlane landed around a large green area, with lots of trees and tall mountains in the background.

Later, the competitors were standing outside. Chris stood in front of them as usual, but most of the competitors either laughed or stared, bemused at what the host was wearing. Instead of Chris' usual getup, he was wearing a brown tunic, a red and green kilt, long leather shoes and to top all of it off, he had blue face paint covering half of his face.

"Alright, wee lads and lassies" he said, in an overly dramatic scottish accent. "In case you couldn't tell, we are in Scotland, the country known for its unique music, its hatred for Ireland and a little creature known as Nessie."

He paused, allowing the competitors to look around.

"But," Chris pointed out, "Before we get to any of that..."

Ding-Ding

The competitors groaned, except for Courtney.

"I thought you forgot about that." cried Duncan.

"Nope" laughed Chris "The interns are still setting up the challenge, so we'll pass the time with a little song. Ummmmm...we haven't had male duo and one female duo yet so...Samey and...Owen, you'll start us off."

Samey nervously stepped forward. Amy snickered to herself. Owen stepped forward too, most of his teammates giving pats on the back and a few thumbs ups.

"Alright let's begin" said Chris

To the tune of "Behind these Hazel Eyes" by Kelly Clarkson

Samey:

Here I stand, yet again

Only now I am singing…

Owen:

Figurin' out

What to do

It's really kinda stressful

Samey:

Hopin' I

Can keep my cool

Owen:

But it's not as hard as not eatin' fooooooood

Samey:

(No more eating food)

Owen:

I'd really like some fish and chiiiiiiiiipppppps

Samey:

Or maybe some shortbreaaaaaaad

Owen:

You really get a guy like me…

Samey and Owen

Yeah it's tiime

That we tryyyyyyy

Some good fooooooood

End.

Both Samey and Owen posed as they finished their brief but entertaining song. Samey actually found herself smiling, as did Owen. They both walked back to their respective teams. Surprisingly, most of Samey's teammates seemed impressed. Most of them nodded and gave her a slight thumbs up. Amy noticed this and gritted her teeth.

**Confessional (Samey): "**That was so much fun! I can't believe I actually got to sing. And I sounded pretty good." She then took a deep breath and calmed herself. "But I probably shouldn't tell my teammates about it." Despite her commitment to staying calm, she still forced a large smile and a quick laugh out of excitement.

Static.

"Alright" said Chris, shrugging. "I guess I never said how long the songs had to be so…let's get to it. Today's challenge is one I like to call: Capture the Melon."

Tyler nudged Cody in the shoulder. "Sounds like a game up your alley, bro." he snickered. Cody rolled his eyes, but gave a slight smile.

"The game is like capture the flag, but with a few twists. This forest will cover the game map. Each team will have one base area. The first one is right here." The competitors looked down and noticed a medium size red circle on the ground. Chris then pointed at the trees. "The second base is on the other side of this forest. In the forest, you will find a plethora of scattered watermelons. The goal of this game is to find these melons and bring them to your base. The team with the most amount of intact melons on their side wins the challenge and is safe from elimination. You are allowed to steal the melons from the other team too. Any questions?"

Courtney raised her hand. Chris sighed.

"Courtney, this isn't a classroom, just say whatever you want."

The CIT put her hand to her hips. "Well Chris, unlike you, I actually have a sense of order and regulation. So if you don't mind, respect the rules and don't let this entire thing turn into a circus."

Most of the competitors rolled their eyes, or confusingly stared at her. Except for Gwen, who smiled and put an arm over Courtney's shoulders. Chris pinched his nose. "Alright, what is it, Courtney?"

Courntey smugly smiled "Thank you" she cleared her throat. "What if someone were to get lost while in those woods? Do you have the necessary protections to make sure nothing goes wrong? Or if someone cheats?"

Chris groaned in annoyance and slapped his hand across his face. "Yes. The interns will be on standby and we have a drone in the sky to make sure no one gets lost once the challenge is over. And to make sure no one cheats." He then turned to the Shark Cowboys. "Alright Cowboys, since you won the last challenge, you will get to pick which base you want. You've got sixty seconds."

Quickly the Shark Cowboys huddled up.

Courtney started "Alright guys, for this challenge we should-"

She was suddenly cut off by Macarthur "I say we take the one on the other side. It will give us the advantage of seeing where the other melons are and-"

"Uh, excuse me?"

Macarthur blinked as she stared like a deer in the headlights at the now flabbergasted CIT. She blinked again. "Oh sorry, you go."

Courtney nodded and started again. "Anyways, I say we take...the...other side...because...because..." Her sentence trailed off as she realized as she was just repeating the same thing Macarthur said. "...What the Cadet said." She sighed.

Noah spoke up. "I suggest we have the Aussie be the guard of our melons."

Said Aussie looked at Noah, annoyed. "I have a name, ya know? Besides who said you were in charge of this?"  
Before Noah could say anything, Mike was actually the one to speak up. "Actually I think that's a good idea. She's the tallest out of the rest of us, and can probably see if any Bobcats are coming."

Most of the players nodded, except Jasmine who was left mouth agape. She didn't see Noah smirking at her.

**Confessional (Noah): **He points directly at his head, smirking. "In. Her. Head."

**Confessional (Courtney): **"That cadet better know her place. She is a rookie. I am a veteran. I was always told to respect your elders. And I hope she was taught that as well." She quickly froze up, realizing what she said. "Not that I'm an elder, like in terms of wisdom I am, but in terms of age I'm…" She didn't bother finishing the sentence and just sighed in defeat.

Static

Meanwhile, the Bobcats were also planning their strategy. "Alright" said Leshawna "Who wants to stay behind and guard the rest of what we bring back?"

The competitors looked at each other. No one seemed like they wanted to be the defender for their team. Samey's eyes nervously glanced from teammate to teammate. Amy noticed this and spoke up.

"I think Samey has an idea…" she said, trying not to sound smug.

Everyone's eyes fell on the good twin, who became even more scared from all the eyes staring down at her.

"Uh, well…" she laughed nervously. "I uh, I figured, you know we could...we…"

"Spit it out, stutter mouth!" Shouted Jo.

"Ok...I was...just thinking...instead of deciding now...we could...go and get the melons now and then decide who should guard when we have something to...you know...guard?"

Most of her teammates stared blankly, but didn't say anything. Finally after a few more seconds, Heather spoke up, "That's actually not a bad idea."

Most of the other competitors nodded, leaving Samey to sigh in relief. Amy gritted her teeth.

**Confessional (Amy): "**Spareamy got lucky this time, but I will make sure that changes. I just have to do one thing to make sure that she's eliminated."

Static

"Alright" called Chris to both teams "Get in place, once the Cowboys are at their base, the game will begin."

The Cowboys headed into the woods. Duncan watched as Gwen walked into the trees, disappearing from his sight. Zoey walked up to him.

"Duncan I know you want to say sorry, but we kinda need to focus on the challenge." she said, sympathetically.

Duncan grumbled "I know, I know." He turned and walked to the rest of his team.

The Shark Cowboys looked around at their forest surroundings. Watermelons were cleverly placed in different areas. They were behind trees, hanging on branches and stuffed in holes of the trunks.

Some were directly above them, disguised amongst the green leaves.

Owen was tempted to take a bite, but his little buddy, Noah stopped him.

"Easy, big guy. Remember, if we touch anything before we get to our base we'll be disqualified." he said. Owen put his hands down and nodded. Jasmine rolled her eyes at this.

"You know, you don't have to listen to him, right?" she said to Owen.

Noah turned his head. "Are you trying to get us to lose?" He said abruptly.

Jasmine was taken aback. "What? No! I just-"

Noah turned fully around, stopping both himself, the Aussie and Owen in their tracks. "Because I know my buddy more than anyone and I know how he acts around food."

"He's right." Owen added

Noah continued "So either get your head out of the clouds or focus on winning the game."

He turned back around and walked away. Jasmine turned to Owen. He gave a shrug and followed Noah, leaving behind a shocked Jasmine.

**Confessional (Jasmine): **Both of her hands are over her face. "How...is that little pipsqueak...getting to me?!" She said this through gritted teeth.

Static.

"You know" said Macarthur to her partner "If Brody was here, he would totally devour that melon in under a minute. It's a really cool thing he can do. I once saw him do it at a carnival."

"I-I know" said Sanders, confused. "I was there. I went with you guys to that carnival."

"Oh" said Macarthur, surprised. "Oh, yeah that's right. I only really remember being with Brody."

"Probably because he's your boyfriend…?"

"Don't use that word."

Sanders blinked. "What word?' "

"Boyfriend?"

Sanders walked in silence for a few seconds "But he is your boyfriend…"

"I know. Technically he is, but the word sounds too girly. I call him bro-friend. Sounds significantly better."

Sanders just sighed. "That doesn't make you sound like a couple…" She mumbled. Macarthur didn't hear what she said.

**Confessional (Sanders): **"I...am not a big fan of being a third wheel. I know Macarthur doesn't want me to be by myself when she goes on date, but whenever I do go, I feel like an insignificant onlooker. We went to a lake once and I skipped a rock on the water six times and no one noticed."

Static.

Meanwhile, the Vengeful Bobcats stood, waiting for the call for the challenge to start. Scott, Alejandro and Jo were discussing something to each other, away from the rest of the team. Amy noticed this and tried to walk up to them, but was interrupted. Chris' voice blared over the speaker.

"Alright, Competitors. The wonderfully named Shark Cowboys have reached their base. Get ready because the challenge starts in ten seconds. 10...9...8…"

As Chris continued his countdown, Amy realized she wasn't going to be able to do what she wanted at that moment. But, she looked at the woods and grinned to herself. She turned and waited for the countdown to end.

"...3...2...1...Begin!"

Almost all at once, the Bobcats ran into the woods, quickly disappearing into the trees. The only one who didn't run (or move at all) was Dawn. She smiled, and after a few seconds, calmly walked into the woods.

Meanwhile, The Shark Cowboys ran into the woods too, all except Jasmine, who stood, arms crossed in front of the base area.

All the competitors each grabbed a melon very quickly. There was already a ton and most of them had no problem finding at least one. After a few more minutes, both players had twenty melons in their respective bases. Alejandro had just arrived back with another melon. Shortly after dropping off the fruit, Heather arrived with a melon in tow. She looked at the Latino.

"We're starting to get a lot, aren't we?" She said, putting down the melon next to Alejandro's.

He looked at the pile of melons and nodded. Heather continued. "Someone should probably stay here and watch the melons…"

"Well" said Alejandro "We're gonna to need someone who is both strong enough to fend off any poachers while also having the patience to stand in one place for a considerable amount of t-"

Alejandro turned and realized that no one else was there. Heather was gone. Alejandro sighed and took his place in front of the melons.

**Confessional (Alejandro): **He sighed again "Normally I would never tolerate this kind of treatment, but with Heather it's...different."

Static

Duncan ran through the forest, looking for more melons. He already had one tucked under his arm already. He finally found another behind a tree and picked it up. Then he heard the sound of a twig snapping. Duncan's eyes glanced from left to right. He looked around, checking to see if anyone was near him. His eyes caught movement within the trees. He hid behind a tree next to him, hoping not to be spotted by whoever was around him. He then heard a familiar voice.

"I can't find any here, what about you?"

Duncan immediately recognized the high pitched tone of the voice. It was Courtney. And if Courtney was around then that must mean…

"Nothing here. Come on, let's keep moving."

It was Gwen.

Duncan then heard footsteps, moving away from him, until he couldn't hear anyone near him. He stood by himself for a few more moments, before finally sighing. He started to move back towards his base, but froze suddenly. He squeezed his eyes, seemingly trying to talk himself out of doing something. He sighed again, turned out and ran in the other direction. The same direction he heard Gwen and Courtney going.

Meanwhile, Jasmine was standing at her base, guarding her team's melons.

She was bored out of her mind.

She kept scanning the trees, but seeing no other players from the other teams. Occasionally, one of her own teammates would come back with a watermelon or two in hand, but would barely talk to or acknowledge her. She sighed again in annoyance. Suddenly she heard a rustling sound. The sound got louder. It sounded like it was approaching her direction. Jasmine readied herself. But she didn't have to, as out of the forest popped Macarthur and Sanders, each with two watermelons under their arms. They dropped them in the ever growing pile and high fived each other. Macarthur wiped the sweat of her brow.

"Phew, another mission successful, partner." she said.

"Yeah" said Sanders, sitting down. "I almost didn't think we'd find anymore."

"Well, if the game is Capture the Flag, we should pay the other team a visit." said Macarthur, punching her palm with her fist. She extended her hand to Sanders.

"Give me a sec, I need to catch my breath." She answered.

Jasmine heard this and moved towards the two.

"Um, excuse me?" she said. Macarthur and Sanders turned to the tall Aussie. "If she needs a break, maybe I can come with you?" She said to Macarthur.

Sanders was about to answer, but got cut off but Macarthur. "Sorry, we kinda got an alliance thing going between the two of us…"

Sanders blinked, confused "...We do?"

Macarthur continued. "I watched season one. Heather, Beth and Lindsay's alliance only lasted about 7 episodes between the three of them. Three is too much because, it's like, who cares about the final three if that means one of you has to go home before the final? Also, it would be a lot harder to keep all three of us together. One of us would definitely be eliminated before the merge. So...gonna have to pass on this one. Plus, you've also got that thing going on with Noah, and I don't want to get in the way of that."

Jasmine stared at her teammate, mouth agape. Sanders stood up.

"You could've just told her 'no thanks' " she said to Macarthur.

Macarthur shrugged and the two headed back into the forest, leaving behind a still flabbergasted Jasmine.

Amy made her way through the trees, but she didn't pick up any melons. She was looking for something. Or someone. She looked behind trees. Finally she came across the person she wanted to talk to. Scott.

He was also looking around, for watermelons. Amy looked around and found a melon next to her, behind a tree. She picked it up and walked towards him.

"Hey" she shouted. Scott turned, as Amy walked up to him, melon in hand. "I figured you might need this…" She held the melon out to her teammate.

Scott stared at her, confused. "I can probably find another...I'm not the only one on this team."

Amy smiled. "Yeah, but I figured that by doing this, you'd owe me."

Scott again looked at her, still confused but curious as to what she meant. "Ok...like what?"

Amy looked away, but still grinned. "Oh, I don't know maybe a...spot in your alliance."

Scott's mouth started to open in shock, but it closed. He pinched his nose in frustration. Now it was Amy's turn to be confused.

"You want a spot in the alliance?" Scott mumbled.

Amy looked around, not sure if something was supposed to happen. But she looked back at the country boy. "Uh, yeah…" She finally answered.

Scott looked up at Amy, looking annoyed and defeated. After a few moments of silence, he took the melon from Amy, turned and walked away. "Fine, whatever, you're in."

Amy stood in place, stunned.

**Confessional (Amy): **I did not think it would be that easy.

Static.

Duncan stood behind a tree, thinking to himself. Behind the tree he was hiding behind were both of his ex-girlfriends. He had two watermelons in hand. He contemplated his situation carefully. He tried psyching himself up. Finally after a few more seconds, he popped his head from the tree and…

He came face to face, with a questioning, but annoyed stare of Courtney. After a few more seconds of both of them staring at each other, Duncan turned back to behind his tree, realizing the possible trouble he was in.

"Duncan, what are you doing?"

After hearing Gwen's voice, Duncan was motivated again to turn back out from behind the tree. He smiled nervously.

"Hey guys…" He said, awkwardly.

Gwen and Courtney both looked at each other then back to him, again with confusion. All three stared at each other for a few moments of silence. Finally, Duncan broke the silence.

"I uh…" he said, looking away for a second. "I want to say...that I…Duncan...am...sorry…" He thought about saying more, but simply ended it.

Courtney turned away from him, arms crossed. "Duncan, it's a little late for that."

Duncan realized what she meant. "Oh, oh, oh, oh. Um, no. I meant for what happened...in Los Angeles. The...face...plant...thing. On the plane." He paused. "Also I was...talking to...Gwen."

Courtney, looked back at Duncan. The Ex-con looked at her too. He couldn't tell if she was annoyed by the lackluster apology, or upset because he wasn't sorry for anything else.

Gwen noticed the tension and awkwardness and stepped in front of her teammate. She first turned to her. "It's ok." she whispered. She then turned back to her ex. "Thank you, Duncan...I...appreciate it." Another few awkward moments of silence went by.

Again, it was Duncan who spoke first. "I, uh also wanted to give this…" He held out one of the watermelons, putting the other down on the ground. "As a...apology gift." He tried to smile, but he was still incredibly nervous.

Gwen looked at the melon, then to Duncan. She had a guilty look, but still gave a small smile.

"Thank you, Duncan" she said "But I would like to win this game without any help...especially from someone who isn't on my team."

Duncan smiled, but was still nervous. "Oh, I just meant this to be a one time thing. I remember what happened back in season 2 with you and Tren-" The Excon stopped himself, realizing that he probably shouldn't bring up Gwen's past relationship. Courtney pinched her nose, while Gwen looked down. She took the watermelon out of Duncan's hands.

"I appreciate the offer, Duncan." She said, still not looking up at him. "But try not to make this a regular thing."

Duncan sighed, as Gwen and Courtney turned and walked back into the woods. Duncan couldn't read Gwen's expression. But he sighed again, and gave a sad smile.

**Confessional (Duncan): **"Ok, you know what? That could've gone worse. Maybe she appreciates that I was at least trying to be nice. I mean it was awkward, but I think it was at the very least 'ok.' "

Static.

Meanwhile, Chris and Chef were still at the starting place of the challenge. Chris had a plunger box in hand, and a big grin on his face.

"You think I should've told them that I rigged some of the melons?" he said to Chef.

Chef shook his head. "Nah, they've been around long enough, they should've known at this point."

Chris smiled again. "That's why you're my man, dude." He pushed the plunger down. In the distance, several explosions could be heard, and many geysers of a pinkish substance shot into the air. Jasmine and Alejandro were caught off guard, as a number of their melons in the stockpile, suddenly exploded, covering them in the pinkish liquid.

But the worst of all happened to Duncan. He watched in absolute shock and guilt, as he saw an explosion go off, in the same place he saw Gwen and Courtney run off to. He stood in place for a few seconds, contemplating his next decision. He thought about checking on the two, but decided he'd done enough and turned around and walked off.

Alejandro had been wiping the watermelon juice off of himself. He didn't notice the two cadets behind the trees directly in front of him. Sanders and Macarthur looked at each other, assessing the situation.

"Ok, what's the plan?" whispered Sanders

Macarthur thought for a moment. "Ok, we're dealing with season three's biggest threat. We need a good and effective plan. I say we do something like Operation Tramp-alanche."

Sanders raised an eyebrow "What is that?"

Her partner sighed "I figured you would have trouble understanding." she whispered to herself. Then she turned back to Sanders "If you and I are going to make this alliance work, we need to have a mind alike."

"We're not in an alliance…"Sanders said, slightly louder than usual.

"Just look at the melons, think about the word play and get back to me."

Sanders peered her head slightly out, looking at Alejandro and the pile of watermelons behind him. She made sure Alejandro didn't see her. After a few moments of careful observation, she looked back at Macarthur and grinned. "I like it." she said. Macarthur grinned back. "Alright. Let's do it."

Alejandro was still getting the watermelon juice out of his hair and shirt. Suddenly he heard a rustle from the bushes. He looked up, but didn't see anything. His eyes peered from left to right, but as he looked left again, he saw…

Macarthur.

Alejandro grinned. "Couldn't get enough of me, _senorita_?"

Macarthur scoffed. "Alright taken, hombre. But I will gladly take those watermelons off your hands." She took a stance, and charged forward. She focused all her attention on the Latino. Alejandro prepared to defend himself. Suddenly, Macarthur stopped in her tracks and turned around. "TRAMPALANCHE!" She shouted. Alejandro hadn't seen Sander running behind Macarthur. The burly cadet held her hands out in a cupped position. Sanders jumped into them, leading to Macarthur lifting her hands into the air, sending Sanders flying over Alejandro. Alejandro watched in shock as the cadet soared over him. She landed gracefully on the melons. Somehow none of the ones she was standing on, neither moved nor broke. Alejandro watched, mouth agape. But quickly he recovered. "Your plan was clever, _chica_. But can you handle this!" With that he took off his shirt, and posed with his big macho muscles. Macarthur watched in horror.

"No! Sanders, watch out. His devilish muscles will hypnotize you. Don't let him take over your mind."

But Sanders just grinned. "Don't worry, partner..." She grabbed a melon that was wedged within the others. "...I'm not into Latinos!" With a grunt, she pulled the melon out, sending several other melons rolling down like an avalanche. They were heading straight towards Alejandro. All the shirtless Latino could do was watch in horror as the stampede of fruit came tumbling towards him. They CRASHED onto him, burying him all together. Only his hand and foot were visible. Both were mangled from being hit with so many melons. Sanders jumped down and she and Macarthur high fived each other. But Macarthur raised an eyebrow.

"Are you really not into Latinos?" She asked.

Sanders was catching her breath from the excitement of what had happened. "No...I just...thought it was...a cool line."

Macarthur put her hands to her hips, continuing to raise her eyebrow. "You should leave the one-liners to me, rookie."

Sanders laughed. "Let's just get the melons."

With that, Macarthur grabbed four melons, while Sanders grabbed three and the two headed back into the woods, leaving behind the mess of melons and the still not moving Alejandro.

Zoey moved around the forest, carrying a watermelon. She heard the loud noise that came from her base and was heading over there now. She tried to make sure no Shark Cowboys were able to see her. She heard a noise from the bushes coming towards her. Quickly thinking, Zoey jumped behind a tree and waited for the person to pass. She waited a few more seconds, before hearing the footsteps pass her. She quickly walked out from the tree and headed towards her base. Out of curiosity, she turned back to see who passed her. Then she stopped.

"Mike…" she whispered to herself. Sure enough, Mike was the one who had passed her. He had a watermelon in hand and was heading back towards his base. He didn't see Zoey at all.

Zoey completely turned around, and watched Mike go further and further into the woods. A lot was running through her mind. What was she supposed to do? It was her boyfriend, but also her rival. She didn't think about her team, or his team, or anyone other than Mike. With reluctance, she took a step forward.

"I wouldn't do that."

Zoey jumped at the voice and looked to her right. She saw Duncan standing next to him, with a looked that seemed to say he was speaking from experience. She paused for a few seconds. Then she realized what he meant.

"Did you…" she started

"Yes," Duncan said abruptly.

Zoey paused. "Even when I…"

"Yes" Duncan said again, sounding more annoyed this time.

Again Zoey paused, but this time it was Duncan to speak first. "Speaking from experience, I think it's a better idea to...you know..."

Zoey thought about it for a few moments. She looked down, then she looked up and gave a small smile.

"You're right, let's go." She said

Duncan nodded and the two turned and headed back to their base. But little did any of them know, Mike had been watching them. He stared, nervously.

**Confessional (Mike): **He is sitting on the toilet seat, hugging his knees tightly "Zoey...loves...me. I...love...Zoey. Duncan...loves...Duncan...loves..." He raised his voice. "Duncan...loves...loves…"

Static

Jasmine had just finished, dumping watermelon juice out of her hat. The explosion hadn't greatly affected the pile. Aside from a few spilled watermelons, the pile was left intact. She turned, just in time to see Tyler exiting the forest, with a watermelon under his arm. He placed it with the other melons. He wiped his sweatband and took a few breaths. He looked at Jasmine and smiled.

"I think we might have a chance at winning this." he said.

Jasmine rolled her eyes. "Yeah, I bet," she said, dully.

Tyler again turned to the tall Australian and looked at her. He thought for a moment.

"Do you want to switch places?" he said.

Jasmine's eyes sprang open and she looked at Tyler. "W-what?"

"I just figured that the challenge will be over soon, and you might wanna...you know...get in some action. I mean it must be boring just to sit here through the whole game and-"

Jasmine smiled and ran past Tyler before he could finish. "Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Thanks. I appreciate it."

Tyler watched as Jasmine disappeared into the trees. Little did he know, a pair of eyes opened behind him, among the watermelons.

Leshawna was walking back to her base, with two watermelons tucked under her arms. Suddenly her teammate, Amy ran up to her.

"Hey Leshawna." she said, happily.

Leshawna looked "Hey, Amy. What's up?"

"Oh, nothing. Do you need help with those?" Amy tried to sound as over enthusiastic as she could.

"No thanks. I got these."

Amy turned. "Oh, okay. I think I see one over there." With that, Amy sprinted away from Leshawna, who seemed confused about the quickness of Amy's arrival and departure, but didn't think about it too much.

As soon as Amy was sure she was out of Leshawna's view, she stopped and went behind a tree. She looked up at the branches.

**Confessional (Amy): **The thing about being a cheerleader. You need to be really athletic, really nimble and willing to stab anyone in the back.

Static

Amy climbed up one of the trees and jumped from branch to branch. She found a melon and carried it with her. She caught back up to Leshawna. She popped her head out amongst the leaves. To her delight, she saw her sister, Samey, going in the same direction as Leshawna, but behind her. She didn't have any melons in her hand. She didn't see Amy. Nor did she see Samey hold the watermelon over her head and chuck it in Leshawna's direction. It nailed her in the back, but didn't break. Leshawna crashed onto the ground, dropping both melons. She groaned from the sudden hit. She stood up and slightly turned around. Samey came into view and Leshawna eyes widened with fury. Samey looked at her, concerned.

"Leshawna, are you-"

Leshawna turned, picked up a watermelon and stomped towards the twin.

"Oh. Nuh-uh. No, way. If you have a problem with me, say it to my face, but you do not get to hit me from behind like that!"

Samey got nervous, as Leshawna came closer to her. She only stopped once her back hit a tree. Leshawna walked right up to her, raised the watermelon and smashed it over Samey's head. The melon broke this time, covering half of Samey's face in the still intact fruit.

"...And don't you dare think about messing with me ever again, white girl!" Leshawna shouted.

Samey didn't say anything. She was still in shock at what just happened.

At that moment, Amy ran up to Leshawna, with a watermelon in hand.

"Hey Leshawna I-" She looked at the scene in front of her, and stared in "shock." "What happened here?"

"Something that won't happen again." Leshawna said, boldly. She turned to the other twin. "You got another melon?"

"I actually brought it for you" Amy said, with as much excitement as she could. She held out the melon to her teammate. Leshawna smiled, took the melon, then picked up her own intact melon and the two walked back towards their base. But Leshawna and Samey didn't see Amy, look back at her sister, smirking like the devil as she walked into the forest.

Cody ran through the forest, with his melon in hand. He had just made it back to the base. He placed it with the rest. He looked up and dusted his hands. But he stopped when he noticed Tyler standing in the front. Cody looked confused and walked up to the Jock.

"Tyler, what are you doing here? I thought Jasmine was the guard for our team?" he asked.

"Oh, I said I could take over for her." Tyler said

"Oh...you sure you're up for it?"

Tyler smiled. "Yeah, dude, I got this. Figured the game would be over soon anyway."

The two continued their conversation, but neither noticed a figure behind them. Watching them. It watched Cody. Then Tyler. The two bumped fists and Cody headed back into the woods.

"Miiiinnnneee…." The thing hissed, in a shrill voice. It stood up, raised its arms and jumped onto Tyler.

Jasmine was ecstatic to be part of the challenge. She ran through the forest, but couldn't find any melons. But she didn't care. She was just happy to be running around, giving her legs some much needed exercise. The only thing that could possibly ruin her mood was…

"Careful your head doesn't hit any branches."

Jasmine's face frowned as she recognized the voice of that snide remark.

"What do you wa-" She turned around, but didn't see the brainiac. She saw Owen. The big guy simply smiled at Jasmine. "Wait where did he-"

"Weren't you supposed to be watching our melons?" Came Noah's voice again. He popped his head out from behind Owen. He was riding off of Owen's back. Jasmine smirked as they walked past.

"Hope that ego isn't too big for you to carry." She said

"Oh, it's no problem. Thanks." Said Owen, innocently.

"You didn't answer my question." Noah said again. "Why aren't you-"

"I heard you the first time." Jasmine snapped.

Noah smirked, playfully.

Jasmine sighed, annoyed. "Tyler took my spot. He figured the challenge would be over soon so he-"

"So he knew you couldn't handle the responsibility of such a task, so he gave you the easier job." Noah interrupted.

"What? No, that's not even-" Jasmine shouted back

"I get it. It must be hard for a newbie to be stuck being goalie, while the actual veterans get to do the fun stuff. It's kinda like being picked last for dodgeball." Jasmine didn't say anything. "I'm sure your boyfriend knows something about that. Oh, that's right. He was probably preparing for some non-existent zombie invasion." He started snickering to himself. He didn't see Jasmine. But Owen did.

"Uh, Noah?" He said, nervously.

Noah continued laughing, but his eyes did land on Jasmine. He immediately stopped laughing.

The Aussie had been standing quietly where she was. But she was also seething with rage. The last comment about her boyfriend made her snap. Noah and Owen looked at her in terror. They took a few steps back, when suddenly Jasmine's head snapped up, staring darts at the two. That sent Owen, with Noah still on his back, running away, screaming. Jasmine ran towards them, with fire in her eyes.

Tyler groaned as his eyes opened. He was laying on the floor in a heap. When his eyes fully opened and his vision cleared, he was surprised. Standing directly over him, were his teammates: Gwen, Courtney, Macarthur and Sanders. Gwen and Courtney were still covered in chunks of watermelon from earlier. All three didn't look happy, especially Macarthur, who looked shocked and betrayed. Tyler grabbed his head in pain. But when he did he noticed his hand was sticky. He looked around him. He was surrounded by a pool of watermelon juice from several dozen smashed watermelons.

"Wha- What happened?" He asked.

Courtney immediately spoke up. "What do you mean: what happened?! You're the one who was supposed to be guarding the base!"

"But I-" Tyler spoke, but was too groggy to say anything more.

He then heard sniffling. He looked up. Macarthur was on the verge of tears.

"Say it isn't so…" She cried.

Before Tyler could say anything else, a watermelon nailed Courtney in the back, breaking on impact. The CIT faltered but didn't fall. Everyone turned back to see Noah, on Owen's back, running in fear. A few more watermelons flew out of the woods and smashed when they hit the ground. Jasmine, still in a fit of rage, ran out, still chucking a few more melons. Her teammates ducked at the oncoming fruit.

"Jasmine!" cried Gwen

Almost instantly, Jasmine snapped back and stopped in her tracks. She realized what she was doing and calmed down.

"Why were you throwing those melons? We could've used those..." shouted Courtney.

The Aussie just stuttered. She was still trying to calm herself down. "I- I- I-."

Gwen groaned. "We don't have time for this. We gotta get back in the game before-"

Suddenly a buzzer went off. Chris' voice came over an intercom.

"And with that the game's over. And the winner of the Capture of the Melon challenge is, appropriately named, _avenging_ their previous loss...It's the Vengeful Bobcats, by a landslide."

"A landslide?" said Jo, who was still in the middle of the forest, as was Heather and Scott. The three headed towards the base. When they got there, they looked up in amazement. Duncan, Zoey and Alejandro, who had bruises from the scuffle with the cadets, were already gazing at the spectacle before them. Directly in front of them was their pile of watermelons. The only difference was that it was 20 feet higher than earlier. And on top of the whole pile was the Moonchild herself: Dawn.

She smiled at her handiwork.

The rest of her teammates showed up and were equally amazed. With the greatest of ease, Dawn jumped down, bouncing off watermelon to watermelon, without breaking the fruit or disturbing the gigantic structure.

She reached the bottom and casually walked past the rest of her teammates, who all had their jaws wide open.

Later, back at the plane, the Shark Cowboys were ready to make their vote. Sanders was trying to comfort the still sobbing Macarthur.

**Confessional** **(Noah): **The Brainiac smirked as he stamped his passport. "Do I even need to say who I'm voting for?"

**Confessional (Courtney): **"Tyler cost us the game, simple as that." She stamped her passport confidently

**Confessional (Tyler): **"I'm sorry, Jasmine. I don't want to go home this early." Reluctantly, he stamped his passport.

**Confessional (Sanders): **She sighed. "I knew this would happen..." and stamped her passport

**Confessional (Macarthur): **Still crying, she stamped her passport. She stopped for a moment, but buried herself in her arms, continuing to cry.

Static

All the competitors sat in the elimination room. Chris, who was back in his original clothes, had already handed out the barf bags. The only ones who hadn't received any were Tyler, Noah and Jasmine. Chris paused for a few seconds, thinking.

"Hmmmmmm" He tossed his bag. "Noah."

The brainiac grinned. Then he looked at Jasmine and his grin widened. The Aussie was looking nervous. As was Tyler. Chris just looked at the two.

"Wow. Just when you guys were able to win again, you end up right back here in the elimination room. Tyler, you're a klutz and Jasmine you have a short fuse." He paused, and then he laughed at his word play. "The vote was close, but the person going home today will be…"

….

….

….

….

….

….

….

….

….

….

….

….

….

….

….

….

….

…

..

.

"Tyler."

Jasmine sighed in relief as she caught her barfbag. Noah glared, furious his plan didn't work. Tyler sighed in disappointment, but then he turned to his team.

"Guys, you gotta believe me, something attacked me, and I think it might be after us."

His teammates looked at each other, unsure of what to think. Tyler turned, and grabbed the parachute, Chris was holding. He was about to jump out the door, but the plane suddenly bounced, causing the Jock to face-plant. Before he could get up, the plane bounced again, sending Tyler flying out the door, screaming in terror. Chris closed the door, silencing the noise.

"And that's that." He said

Meanwhile, The Bobcats were enjoying their first class treatment. Everyone except one. Samey was still scraping the melon juice and seeds out of her hair. She looked down...and sniffled...and tried to hold back her tears.

The camera quickly cut back to Chris. "Wow. That's depressing. Not a good note to end on." He paused, awkwardly. "Uhhhh.." Then he smiled. "It's ok, we'll just end this on my awesome mug. Which will always be here. And it will be here again on the next episode of...Total...Drama...L...egends!"

Placement:

22nd: Sierra

21st: Lightning

20th: Tyler

Votes

Tyler- Gwen, Courtney, Sanders, Macarthur, Cody

Jasmine- Noah, Owen, Tyler, Mike

Noah- Jasmine


	5. Volley-Maul

The camera pans across the trees of Scotland. "Last time on Total Drama Legend..." Chris' voice spoke in the background. "The competitors took a trip to Scotland and competed in an epic game of capture the flag. Or rather capture the watermelons. Duncan struck out again with Gwen, the Cadets showed some awesome teamwork and Dawn sealed the Bobcats victory...somehow. Noah got in Jasmine's head and almost got her eliminated. But after an 'unknown' attack, Tyler was the one who got the boot."

Chris sat in the co-pilot's seat, next to Chef. "At least he gets to see Lindsay again, so he must be happy. Unless she doesn't remember him. But will the rest of the competitors be happy when we change things up? And will their feelings actually matter to me? Probably not. But if you want to see their reaction then stay tuned for this action packed episode of...Total...Drama...L...egends!"

Alejandro looked annoyingly at Amy and Scott. Jo was watching the three from the side. Amy smiled confidently, but Scott looked nervous and annoyed. Alejandro started.

"Scott, I know you're the one who formed this alliance, but that gives you no right to go behind our backs and do whatever you want. Like adding a new member for example. One, we know nothing about, I might add. If you don't respect the alliance itself, you'll find yourself kicked out of it and the game."

Scott was thinking of something to say, but Amy cut him off.

"Look, I was the one who wanted to join the alliance and Scott knew I could help you guys. And I only want one thing from joining this alliance. And I'm sure it's something everyone of us can get behind."

Alejandro and Jo looked at each other, curious.

"And what's that?" Asked Alejandro

Amy feigned sadness. "Eliminating my sister. The one who said she looked better than Heather." Alejandro grimaced, she turned to Jo. "And the one who thought you were a guy, Jo." Jo frowned. Amy then turned to Scott. "And she's the one that said you-"

Scott raised up his hands. "I get it. I'm not the one you're trying to convince."

Amy turned back to Jo and Alejandro. "So...what's your choice?"

Jo and Alejandro looked at each for a few seconds. Then back to Amy. Alejandro sighed and held out his hand for a handshake.

"We get rid of your sister, and you do what we say, understood?"

Amy grinned and shook the Latino's hand. "Gotcha." Scott crossed his arms and smiled. "I knew my genius decision would be appreciated." He was met with awkward stares of his fellow alliance members.

**Confessional** (**Amy): **Do I actually plan on doing what they want?" She scoffed. "Of course not. As soon as little old Samey is gone for good, I'm exposing their alliance and getting them eliminated. Don't think I can't."

Static.

Jasmine sat on the bench in the loser class. She put her hands on her chin and sighed sadly. Most of her other teammates were sitting around the Aussie, looking at her. She decided to finally speak to them.

"Guys, I just wanted to say I'm sorry for costing us the game. I let my anger get the better of me, and I...I'm the reason we're here right now."

Gwen put a sympathetic hand across the Aussie's back. "Don't say that, Jasmine. We lost. Big deal. It's not like it happened before."

Jasmine sighed again. "Of course, you would say that, you've been in almost every season before this one. You're used to losing."

Gwen gave a confused look from that, not sure how to respond. Courtney took over, and changed the subject.

"Did Noah really get in your head?" She asked.

The Aussie didn't answer at first, she simply glanced over at Noah, who was sitting with Owen. Neither noticed the stare, or if they did, they didn't care.

"I hate to admit it, but yeah" Jasmine said quietly. "He's just such a pest."

"That's not like Noah," said Cody, who was sitting next to Jasmine. "He's sarcastic and maybe a little cynical, but he's not...well, he's not like that."

"He might be changing the way he does things, considering he's never won a season...or even come close." Said Gwen.

"Ummm excuse me?" came a voice.

Gwen, Cody, Jasmine and Courtney all looked up. The voice came from Sanders. She looked annoyed and tired. She had an arm over a very feeble looking and keeling over Macarthur.

"I have been dealing with this." She pointed at her partner. "Since the last challenge. I haven't gotten a lot of sleep and all my time has been spent trying to make her feel better."

Her teammates looked at the downcast Macarthur, who let out a few sniffles.

Sanders continued. "So...while I myself completely understand the reason for eliminating Tyler, all I ask of you is to apologize for eliminating him so I don't have to deal with this anymore."

Her teammates were surprised. They didn't say anything for a few moments. Courtney looked like she was about to say something, but was cut off. Cody walked up to Macarthur and gave her a pat on the back.

"Sorry, Macarthur. I know how much you liked hanging out with Tyler."

Gwen and Courtney looked at each other. Gwen shrugged and smiled, before walking to Macarthur and apologizing too. The two looked at Courtney, who seemed to be contemplating what she was going to do. Finally…

"I'm sorry, ok. Tyler was…" She cringed. "...a mega athlete who left us too soon."

Macarthur didn't say anything for a bit, but after a few seconds, she sprang upward and gave a grin. "That's alright guys, gotta do the right thing for the team. I appreciate the effort, but focus on the next challenge, got it. Don't want to lose two in a row."

And with that, she walked away, leaving her teammates at a loss for words. Sanders smiled.

"Thanks guys." She said, and walked to her partner.

Her four teammates looked at each other, still not sure how to react.

"Ok, so…" said Zoey. "You tried to be a nice person and you slammed your ex-girlfriend onto the floor?"

Duncan nodded solemnly.

"You tried again to be nice, going against what I said in the process…and a watermelon exploded..."

Duncan put his hand across his forehead, clearly embarrassed.

"That same exploding watermelon that you gave to Gwen...that exploded in her hands, correct?"

Duncan, still not looking directly at Zoey, nodded abashed.

Zoey twiddled with her fingers. "So...what should we do now?"

Duncan took his hand away and looked at her. "I thought you were helping me with that." He said.

Zoey leaned back in her chair, like she was a therapist. "Well, since you didn't listen to me, I wanted to know what you think is the best thing to do."

Duncan thought for a moment, then looked back at the Indie Chick "Well...if being nice didn't work...I should be a jerk to her?"

Zoey leaned back upright in her chair, and starred at Duncan, utterly gobsmacked by what she just heard. Duncan looked at her reaction and sighed. "Yeah, I didn't think it was a good idea either."

Leshawna walked down the walkway, to the area that separates the loser class and first class. The bathrooms in the first class were both occupied, so she decided to use the confessional bathroom. It would be a little weird since she was being filmed, but she really had to go, so she didn't care as much. She reached the toilet area, and reached for the door. She tried to open it, but it wouldn't budge. The lock said: unoccupied.

Leshawna rolled her eyes and groaned. She was about to knock on the door to see if anyone was inside, but she stopped. She heard a noise, and it was coming from inside the bathroom. She couldn't identify exactly what the sound was, so she leaned her ear against the door. The sound was clearer. Someone was in there and they were…

Clearing their nose? No.

Sniffing something? In the potty? Ew. But no.

Sniffling?

Leshawna cast a confused look. Why would someone be sniffling in the potty? She thought. Unless they were...crying.

The noise stopped and Leshawana heard what sounded like the door unlocking. The door slid open, and the person on the other side was…

Samey.

She was looking down, noticeably upset. Both of the sleeves to her cheerleader outfit were wet. Either she fell into the toilet, or...

Samey looked up and her expression changed from sadness to nervousness.

"Oh, um" She stammered. "I'm sorry, were you- of course you were. How stupid of me. I-uh. I'll uh. I'll get out of your way."

Samey was about to walk past, but Leshawna, unbeknownst to herself, was standing directly in front of the door and because of her (ermmmm) 'girth,' Samey couldn't get past. She awkwardly stepped back and, still nervous, looked up at Leshawna.

"Can- Can you please move, so I can...get...past…?" She said, very quietly.

Leshawna didn't know exactly how to respond. After a few moments, she turned to let Samey walk by.

"T-Thank you." She said without looking at her teammate.

Leshawna was about to let her walk on, but something in her head told her to…

She grabbed the twin by the arm. Immediately, Samey turned, protected her face and closed her eyes.

"Look, I'm sorry about what happened in Scotland. I-I don't know what happened to you...I-I'm sorry I got in the way-"

"Why were you crying?"

Samey was caught off guard by the question. She opened her eyes. "Excuse me?"

Leshawna asked again, still holding Samey's arm.

Samey stared for a few moments. She wasn't sure what Leshawna was asking, or what she wanted to hear.

"I-I-I-I-I"

"Come on, you've got to have a reason to cry. Are you upset?"

Samey again stared for a few moments. Very slowly, she nodded.

"Well, what's got you so upset?" Leshawna let go of Samey's arm, and crossed her own. She still was skeptical on how she, herself, felt about what she was doing. Samey didn't turn and run. She simply grabbed her own arm. She didn't turn and walk away.

"W-Why do you care?" Samey said, quietly.

Leshawna sighed "Look, I don't like seeing people cry. I like to help them stop crying, if I can. No matter who they are. So, tell me what's the matter?"

Samey looked at Leshawna. Her face seemed to look like she was forcing herself to talk to her, while also genuinely wanting to hear her issue. Slowly, Samey started to gather her thoughts.

"I…"she sniffled "Everyone's been mean to me, and I don't know why."

Leshawna raised an eyebrow at this. "You don't know...why?"

Samey shook her head. "I've barely said anything to anyone, except you, my sister and my friend, Jasmine. And maybe a few others. But for whatever reason, everyone hates me." She tried to hold back her tears.

Leshawna thought about it. She only had one interaction with Samey. She remembered her interaction with the twin and how Samey thanked her for sticking up for her. But she also remembered what Amy had said to her. But the more she thought about it, she realized Samey hadn't tried to do anything other than complete the challenges.

"But Amy told me…" She mumbled to herself, possibly unaware she had just said that aloud.

Immediately, Samey's head sprang. She looked wide eyed at Leshawna.

"What- what did my sister tell you?" She said, desperately.

Leshawna still didn't know what to say. She figured she could just stop there, but something told her she should hear out the twin. She took a deep breath and began telling Samey what Amy told…

Meanwhile, Mike had been sitting by himself, he sighed sadly.

**Confessional (Mike): **"I've tried to keep my mind off of Zoey, but it's been really difficult. I haven't said a word to her in over a week. Seeing her hanging out with Duncan isn't helping either. But at least, he's not trying anything with her. I hope."

Static.

Mike kept sitting by himself, but was soon joined by one of his teammates.

"Hey, Mike."

Mike looked up, to see Cody sitting next to him.

"Oh, hey Cody. How you doing?"

Cody smiled. "I'm doing pretty good all things considered. I mean aside from my stuff going missing."

Mike raised an eyebrow at this. "Your stuff's gone missing? Do you need help finding anything?"

Cody looked at him, surprised. "Really, you'd do that?"

"Yeah, I need something to do to get something off my mind."

Cody laughed. "Oh-ho-ho, what kinda stuff?"

Mike sighed again. He struggled to find the words at first, but finally decided to say them. "It's probably nothing but...I've been seeing my girlfriend talking to Duncan a lot and it's...a little unnerving. I mean, I trust my girlfriend completely...I hope...but...I don't know enough about Duncan."

Cody gave a reassuring pat on the back. "Yeah, dude. I get it. Duncan's not the most trustworthy person. I mean he's always chasing girls. You should've seen how he scored Courtney back in season 1 and totally dumped her in season 3 to get with Gw-"

Cody stopped when he realized that what he was saying was making Mike more worried.

"Ummm, do you still want to help?" He said, awkwardly, trying to change the subject.

Mike sighed, but mumbled a "yeah, sure." The two walked around the loser class, looking for any of Cody's things.

Leshawna had just finished telling Samey about what her sister told her. Samey couldn't believe it. She stared, dumbfounded as to what she just heard. Leshawna also stared at the sister, wondering what she would say.

"That's what she said about me?"

Leshawna nodded. She couldn't read the twin's reaction. She just stared blankly. But suddenly, Samey slapped her hands against her face.

"I can't believe I didn't think of that. Back in Italy…" She groaned.

Leshawna cut her off. "So are you saying what your sister told me was a lie?"

Samey nodded. "She's hated me ever since we were little. But ever since Pahkitew Island, I've learned to drown her out. Now I guess she's trying harder to make my life miserable." She frowned at the thought of this. She looked back up at the still blank starring Leshawna.

Samey didn't know what she should say next.

Eventually Leshawna snapped out of it. "Ok, umm Samey? Now I don't know who to believe. You and your sister have got me all confused." she paused "Let me talk to someone first, and then I'll...I'll do something."

Samey gave a small smile. Then she thought of something. "Oh, it's Sammy."

Leshawna looked at her confused.

'Sammy' continued. "My name. It's Sammy."

"Then why does everyone call you-"

'Sammy' cut her off. "It's in my contract…"

Leshawna was about to ask about that further, but stopped herself. "Well, in any case, I'm sorry...Sammy...for the whole melon thing in Scotland. I didn't see if you were the one who threw the fruit. So that's my bad."

'Sammy' looked at Leshawna. She seemed to have a look of shock and awe. Leshawna thought the whole thing was over, when suddenly 'Sammy' wrapped her arms around her. She was hugging her. Leshawna, on instinct, raised her arms, surprised. 'Sammy' held her hug for a few more seconds before realizing that it probably wasn't a great idea. She quickly released her grip and stepped back. They stared at each other for a few awkward seconds.

"Well…" said Leshawna, finally breaking the silence "If you'll excuse me, I really need to use the little lady's room."

With that, Leshawna opened the door to the stall and closed it behind her.

Samey smiled to herself. At the very least she was hopeful Leshawna could clear her name. Not only that, she at least knew the source of why everyone hated her. But she was still nervous as to what she would do about her sister.

Samey turned and walked back to first class. Amy, who had been behind the wall separating the first class and the loser class, watched her sister, realizing her situation.

Sanders and Macarthur were doing stretches. Since this was no longer the Ridonculous Race, the two cadets weren't continuously running. So they decided they would get in as much exercise as they could before every challenge. Sanders was stretching out her legs, trying to touch her toes, when she looked up. She saw a set of eyes looking out through the curtain, separating both classes. As soon as she saw them, the eyes disappeared. Sanders decided not to worry about it at first and went back to stretching. She did so for a few more seconds, paused, then looked back up. The same pair of eyes disappeared. She groaned and stood up.

"I'll be back in a sec." She said to Macarthur and walked up to the curtain.

"Suit yourself." Macarthur responded, chuckling to herself.

Sanders smiled and rolled her eyes. She opened the curtain and came face to face with…

...Duncan.

The ex-con grinned as he and the Cadet locked eyes.

"What, you gonna give me a citation?" he said, sarcastically.

Sanders actually grinned and let out a small laugh, catching Duncan off-guard.

"Sorry…" she cleared her throat. "What are you doing here?" she said more seriously.

Duncan, still caught off guard by the cadet's earlier response, stammered. "I-I...none of your business, that's what." He said, annoyed.

"It's ok, partner." Said Macarthur from behind them. "He's just getting a look at the glutes." As she said this, she bent over with her back to the two of them. Duncan cringed at the sight, while Sanders laughed. Duncan noticed this.

"You laugh at a lot of things, don't you?"

Sanders turned, she shrugged her shoulders. "When you have a partner like mine it affects your sense of humor. But you never answered my question. What are you doing here?"

"I already told you it's none-" Duncan stopped mid sentence,when his eyes looked onto something. (You guessed it). It was Gwen. He didn't say anything and just stared longingly at her. Sanders turned to see what he was staring at, which made Duncan panic a little. Sanders saw Gwen and realized what he was doing. Even though she didn't watch every episode of Total Drama as Macarthur had, she knew enough about Gwen and Duncan. Most of her knowledge came from Macarthur keeping her up with recaps and fan theories. She looked back and shrugged.

"What? Did you see a rat or something?"

Duncan blinked. He stared a few seconds before scoffing and crossing his arms. He turned and started walking away.

"Yeah. Must be hiding its stash of cheese from you coppers."

Sanders held back a laugh and went back to stretching.

**Confessional (Sanders): **"Yeah I felt bad for him, he might be an ex-criminal, but he hasn't done anything illegal..so far."

Static

Dawn was meditating, on one of the first class chairs. Despite the bit of turbulence every so often, she remained unphased.

"I see you are troubled." She said, with her eyes still closed.

Leshawna had walked up to the Moonchild, and was surprised that Dawn knew she was there. Slowly, she opened her eyes, and cast a blank look at Leshawna. She motioned her hand to signal for Leshawna to speak. Leshawna was unsure about what to say, but found her words.

"Well...look...I've only known you for a short while, but you seem like you know your stuff...so I wanted to ask you a question about...someone." She paused. Dawn motioned for her to continue. "So you know the twins on our team, right?"

"Do you suspect one is not who they seem?" Dawn asked, abruptly.

Leshawna's eyes widened. "Ummm...yeah, I guess."

Dawn smiled and nodded. "I have suspected this for a while, but I feared no one would see the same. Your fears within reason. The sister who you think is bad is really good, but the sister you think is good...is filled with negative aura."

Leshawna was surprised by Dawn's answer, and took a few moments to process what she said. She looked around to make sure no one was spying on them. She leaned in so only Dawn could hear. "And you're positive about this?"

Dawn simply nodded.

Leshawna thought about it for a few moments, but she was cut off.

"Competitors, please report to the north side of the McPlane. I have a little surprise for all of you."

Leshawna looked back at Dawn. But the place where Dawn originally sat, was now unoccupied.

All the competitors were standing in a dark storage looking area. It was somehow different from the typical storage area that contained a trap door to drop anyone at anytime. The two teams stood separately from each other. Zoey looked around at Shark Cowboys, smiled and waved to Mike. Her boyfriend returned the wave and the smile, but Zoey noticed Mike's smile didn't seem all that upbeat. She frowned slightly.

**Confessional (Zoey): **"Wow, I didn't think about how Mike would handle the two of us being seperated. If I could just talk to him at some point, maybe to let him know everything will be ok…" she thought about what she just said. "...yet again, that would set a bad example for Duncan." She paused again. "But on the other hand…"

Static.

Chris walked into the storage area, with a remote control in his hand.

"Welcome competitors!" he said, to an unenthusiastic audience. "Well..glad to see you guys still have your spirit." he said sarcastically. "Today's challenge will be the first change. That means the first world tour section has officially ended. Which means no more singing."

Most of the competitors smiled at this. But most notably Jo let out a resounding "YES!" Some of the competitors looked at her with a confused and annoyed look, but the Jockette didn't care.

"As I was saying," Chris continued. "The next section will begin, as of today. And in case you're curious about what the next theme is…" He pushed the button to his remote control. Suddenly, the walls of the room they were in started lowering, letting in sunlight in the process. The competitors were surprised and panicked, but once they realized it just revealed two windows, they calmed down. Soon the dark walls became two large windows to the outside. The competitors could see just how high they were in the air. Owen started breathing heavily.

"Why are we so high up?! Why can't we be on the ground?! What did the ground do to us?! Whyyyyyyyyyy?!"

Noah, who was standing next to him, looked down. "If I had to guess..._that_ is what Chris is referring to."

The competitors moved to where Noah was looking.

Several thousand feet below them, was an island. It was a large patch of land, with a large forest, and also wide open fields. It also had a large beach area, and two tall mountains. There was also a dock and several large rock formations. The competitors continued to stare at the new island.

"Wait a minute, I thought Wawanakwa sunk into the ocean." said Gwen

"Yeah…because it's not-" started Chris

"And no way that's Pahkitew…" added Jasmine

"Would you let me-" said Chris, agitated.

"No way that's either of those islands." said Macarthur. "Wawanakwa had that massive cliff, this one has two. Also Pahkitew had a sloping hill, this one doesn't."

Chris was about to yell out for everyone to be quiet, but when he realized what Macarthur had just said, he stopped in place. He cleared his throat and gathered his composure. "Yes. This is a brand new island, no toxic waste and it can't be controlled from a computer." The competitors kept staring at the island, while Chris continued. "This island is called Kihci Island." He paused. Before walking back to the pilot's area. "Alright everyone, get strapped in, because in less than an hour we land."

Soon, the plane landed in the water. The plane was specifically built to make water landings, so it didn't sink.

Soon the competitors were on land, as Chris showed them around.

"Welcome to Kihci Island, a new twist on an old classic."

Most of the competitors rolled their eyes at their host. While he was talking, Amy pulled Jo aside.

"We need to talk about our strategy." she whispered

"I already know it," said Jo "Get rid of your sister, simple as that."

"No" whispered Amy, slightly, louder than she meant to. Leshawna turned to them and looked at them, curiously. Amy and Jo pretended they weren't talking, until Leshawna turned back around.

Any continued. "Look, things have changed, we need to-"

"And we have arrived!" shouted Chris.

Amy and Jo turned and saw what Chris was standing in front of.

"Welcome to the new home. It's the return...of the cabins." Chris held out his arms, revealing the cabins. They were the same exact cabins from the first and fourth season. Or at least they looked exactly like them. But for some reason, there was only one.

"Uh, Chris?" said Courtney, raising her hand "Isn't there supposed to be two cabins?"

Chris smiled and rubbed his hands. "I'm glad you asked, Ms. Curious. This is actually the loser cabin. Meaning everyone who loses, at least during the Island portion, will sleep here tonight...in the loser cabin."

"So do the winners have to sleep in the woods?" Asked Jo, almost liking the idea.

Chris pointed to her. "Great idea, but unfortunately...no. You'll find the winner's residence just beyond that hill over _there_." He pointed to the hill next to the cabin. The competitors walked over to the small hill.

"I bet it's just an even crappier cabin made of toothpicks and cotton-" Duncan stopped his remark mid sentence when he saw what was in front of him. The rest of the competitors went wide eyed and slack jawed as they saw the same thing.

The building that Chris was referring to was very different from the cabin. The building the competitors stood in front of was big, white and right next to the beach. It had a pool and flat roofs. There was a large balcony that went out towards the beach. There was a small stairway that led to the beach as well.

"Welcome to the Chris McLean beach house." said Chris.

By this point, most of the competitors were smiling, impressed by the building. Chris suddenly popped up in front of them.

"Alright, enough admiring. The challenge, I have set up for today, won't begin until later tonight, so make yourself comfortable." He started to walk away.

"So since we won the last challenge, do we get to stay in the beach house?" asked Heather.

Chris turned back and shook his head. "I'm afraid not, you can either mingle in the loser cabin or go to the mess hall, it's down the other way." He started walking away again, but stopped and turned around one more time. "Oh yeah, does anyone remember the Chris McLean invincibility statue from seasons 4 and 5?" Most of the competitors nodded their heads. "Well, it's back and it's somewhere on this island. Whoever gets a hold of it, will be immune for one elimination,so use it wisely."

And with that, he left.

The competitors looked at each other, not sure what to do. Macarthur immediately grabbed Sanders arm and the two ran into the woods.

The confessionals were the traditional outhouse ones.

**Confessional (Duncan)**: "I don't care what the next challenge is, I'm getting in that beach house."

**Confessional (Cody, pinching his nose): **"Why couldn't Chris also upgrade the confessionals too? At the very least, he could improve the smell."

Static.

Most of the competitors either headed to the cabin, or to the mess hall, with the exception of the Cadets who were still in the woods. But two of the competitors stayed behind. Now that Mike and Zoey were alone, they stared at each other. Both looked at each other, stone faced at first. But neither could hold back the smile. Since the challenge wouldn't start for another few hours and the rest of the competitors weren't around, the two ran to the back of the cabin and embraced. They looked at each square in the face and kissed.

"I missed you so much, Mike." said Zoey.

"Me too, Zoe." sighed Mike happily.

The two hugged for a few more moments, simply happy to finally be together again. They seperated to look at each other. Zoey smiled and kissed him again. Mike gave a small smile, but it twitched. Zoey noticed this.

"Is everything alright, Mike?" she asked, concerned.

Mike sighed "N-no it's nothing...I just...are you and...nevermind."

"No. What's bothering you?"

"It's nothing, Zoey." Mike said, a little louder than he meant to.

Zoey was startled by the sudden change of tone. Mike realized what he had just done and immediately lowered his voice.

"I'm sorry, Zoey. Being apart for so long is really getting to me. I honestly hate it." He said, with a sense of anger. Zoey looked at him, understanding how he was feeling. Mike took a big gulp and continued. "But I'm gonna try to be strong for the two of us. I want to make it to the end with you again." He finished, giving a small smile.

Zoey returned the smile and they kissed again. "Thank you, Mike." she said softly. They stood in silence for a moment, before Mike spoke up again.

"I think we should leave before people start getting suspicious." Mike said

Zoey nodded. "I love you."

Mike smiled. "I love you too."

With that, Zoey walked out from the back of the cabin. At the moment of walking out from the cabin, Courtney had just walked out of it. She turned and saw Zoey walking out from behind it. Zoey smiled and waved. Courtney waved too, but looked a little suspicious. At that moment, Mike exited from the other side of the cabin. Quickly, Courtney put two and two together and walked over to Mike.

"What were you doing with her?" Courtney said, abruptly.

Mike tried to act like he wasn't guilty. "What? What are you talking about?"

Courtney crossed her arms. "Oh, come on. Don't play dumb. I know you two are in a relationship. It's no coincidence that you both walked from behind this cabin."

Mike rolled his eyes, annoyed. "Ok, fine. I wanted to talk to my girlfriend. But that's all I wanted to do. Nothing else."

"She could've been exploiting your weaknesses and-"

Mike stepped towards her. "No. Zoey is not like that. You don't understand. You know some things about being in a relationship, right?" Courtney didn't respond. Mike turned to walk away, but continued. "I just wanted to see my girlfriend. That's it. You'd understand something like that, right?" He whispered this last sentence, but loud enough so Courtney could still hear it.

Mike walked into the cabin, leaving Courtney standing in front of it, thinking to herself.

**Confessional (Courtney): **"I get what Mike's saying, but that doesn't mean I trust him. Unlike him, I don't let any of my relationships interfere with the team...anymore. If this behavior interferes with the challenge...then I'll make sure he's the one going out."

Static

Macarthur was walking from tree to tree, looking around for something. She searched from behind the trees, the branches and from the bushes. Sanders followed, not showing the same energy as her partner.

"Keep on your guard, partner." said Macarthur, like she was in an action film.

"For what?" replied Sanders "You just grabbed me and dragged me into the woods."

Macarthur sighed and walked towards Sanders, putting a hand on her shoulder. "We're looking for the McLean invincibility statue. That will guarantee our safety."

"From what?" Sanders said, confused.

"From being eliminated. Any competitor who gets their hands on it…" Macarthur stated

"...Will be safe from elimination. I remember." Sanders finished. "But that thing only works for one of us. Are you afraid of being eliminated?"

Macarthur, surprisingly, laughed at this. "Oh, no not at all."

Sanders wasn't sure what she meant. "Do you want to get it before someone else does?"

Macarthur paused "Ummmm...yeah, that." She said, seemingly hiding something.

Sanders didn't think about it though. Her mind was on something else.

"Hey, what do you think of Duncan?" She asked.

Macarthur thought about it for a moment. "He's definitely one of the better players, he's made the merge every season. But honestly his performance has staggered ever since All-Stars-"

Sanders interrupted. "No. Not in that way. I mean like...what happened today on the plane."

Macarthur turned and faced Sanders. "Oh, that. That's obvious. He still has a thing for Gwen and wanted to sneak a peek. It's like Trent in season 2, but somehow creepier."

Sanders pondered. "Yeah, I figured. But doesn't Gwen have a thing wi-" She stopped and realized something. "Wait. Are you getting the statue because you think _I'm_ more likely to be eliminated first?"

Macarthur turned back around and tried to ignore her. "Ohhhhh...I think I see the statue over there. Better get a move on." She ran in the opposite direction of Sanders, who just glared at her fleeing partner.

At the mess hall, most of the competitors were there. Amy, Jo, Alejandro, Scott and Samey all sat at one of the tables. Samey sat on one end, while the other three sat away from her. Samey tried to act like it didn't bother her, but it really did. But after a few minutes, she heard a whisper. She looked around, but didn't see anything. She heard the noise again, and turned around. She saw Leshawna, standing outside the mess hall at the bottom of the steps, and she grew excited. Trying not to look suspicious, she exited the building. While Scott, Jo and Alejandro didn't seem to notice, or care about, what was going on, Amy knew and became a little nervous.

Outside, Leshawna and 'Sammy' spoke at the side of the mess hall.

"Did you talk to your friend?" 'Sammy' said, hopeful.

Leshawna didn't respond at first. She was still unsure about the whole situation. But when she saw the hopeful expression on the twin, she made up her mind.

"I did. And…" 'Sammy' held her breath. "...And I was wrong to believe your sister."

'Sammy' couldn't believe it. She was so excited and smiled from ear to ear. Leshawna couldn't help but smile seeing her expression. But she put her hand behind her hand and frowned.

"I'm...sorry for what I said, and did, back in Italy and in Scotland. It wasn't right of me. I-"

"Apology accepted." 'Sammy' said quickly.

There was an awkward silence that followed. Neither knew what to say to each other. Finally 'Sammy' started.

"So, if you and I are...on good terms...do you think it's possible...we...could...be...ya know…?" 'Sammy' paused, not sure how to word her sentence, but she didn't need to finish.

"Friends?" said Leshawna, smiling.

'Sammy' gave another hopeful smile and nodded. Leshawna kept smiling.

"Sure thing." She said.

Finally after over a week of feeling isolated and alone, 'Sammy' gave the biggest smile she could muster. She was so excited she raised her arms up and screamed happily. Leshawna was surprised by the yell, but kept smiling nonetheless. 'Sammy' stepped forward and held her arms out for a hug, but she remembered what happened last time she did that, so she retreated. She looked down, embarrassed. But when she looked up, she saw Leshawna holding her arms out.

"Come here…" She said, grinning.

'Sammy's' smile went wide again and she ran into Leshawna's arms, embracing her in the hug. Leshawna was caught off guard by the surprising force of the twin. But she did smile and return the hug.

Amy couldn't see what was happening, but she was extremely tense, and trying not to show it. But she wasn't very good at it. Jo noticed.

"You ok, Blondie?" she asked.

Amy snapped back to reality and looked at Jo. She thought about what she wanted to say, so decided that she should calm down before anything else.

"I-uh...I think we should change the strategy a little." she said, still nervous.

Alejandro and Scott overheard her. "What?" They both said simultaneously.

"Who said you were in charge of this? We brought you into this alliance and now you think you can tell us what to do?" Jo said, annoyed.

Amy started to get agitated. "Look. I…don't know how, but…" She thought of something to say. "...Leshawna might know about the alliance-"

"Did you tell her?" Alejandro cut her off.

"You two were hanging around together a lot…" said Scott, suspicious.

Amy realized she might be in trouble. "Look, like I said, I don't know how and if we don't get rid of her, we'll-"

Suddenly Jo grabbed the twin by the collar of her cheerleading outfit and pulled her closer. "Listen, blabbermouth. We'll get rid of your sister because we want to. But if you think you can come into this alliance and do whatever you want, you are dead wrong. If your friend, Sistah Blistah, wants to get in our way, let her. But if we find out you were the one who told her, you can kiss your cheerleader butt goodbye!"

Jo, aggressively let go and walked out the mess hall. Alejandro and Scott followed suit, leaving Amy to think about what she should do next.

Night had fallen by the time the competitors were all moved to the beach. On the beach was a fairly tall net, surrounded by tiki torches. The competitors walked to an area next to the net, separated by team. Chris walked up to the front of them, wearing his normal outfit, but with a grass skirt for whatever reason. Chef was behind him, wearing a grass skirt too and a coconut bra. Most of the competitors snickered at the sight.

"Is there something you aren't telling us, Chef?" Duncan said, still snickering.

Chef just grumbled in annoyance.

"Alright, competitors, it's time for the challenge." Chris spoke up "As you can see by the set up, we're going to play a game of beach volleyball."

Most of the competitors seemed ok with this, except for one.

**Confessional (Noah): **"Has anything changed about my opinion on sports? No. I still loathe them." He said, dully.

Static.

Chris continued. "Now for those who don't…" he trailed off. "Hey, Shark Cowboys are you missing a few?"

The Shark Cowboys looked around at their team. Finally Courtney spoke up.

"Where are Sanders and Macarthur?" She called out.

At that moment, a loud panting noise could be heard. The competitors turned to see the two cadets running up to them. Sanders was out of breath and had a few scratches on her arms. Macarthur, on the other hand, was covered in dirt, but otherwise didn't seem out of the sort at all.

"I...knew...we...were...late." Said Sanders, still catching her breath.

The competitors stared at the two cadets in bewilderment as they walked to their team. "Where were you guys?" Asked Gwen, finally breaking the silence.

Sanders stood up, finally able to speak properly. "We were-"

Macarthur immediately put her hand over her partner's mouth. "...Oh you know...just getting a feel for the island. It's what we do. Gotta be ready for anything."

The competitors stared at each other, but didn't say anything. Macarthur removed her hand from her now annoyed partner. Despite the weirdness of it all, Chris went back to explaining the game.

"This game will be like a normal game of volleyball. The server will hit the ball to the other side over the net and it's up to the other team to prevent it from landing on their side, and trying to hit the ball to the other team's side without catching it. If the ball hits the ground within the team's space, the other team will get a point. After every play, we'll rotate positions. But this version of volleyball will be a little different. I like to call it. Brutal. Blind Ball."

"So what?" Scoffed Heather. "Is it blind because we're playing in the dark?"

"Not exactly" replied Chris, holding a box. He opened it up and pulled out...blindfolds. "The thing about this game is that every player, except one, will be blindfolded. That player is responsible for both starting every play, and telling your teammates when and how to hit the ball. Once a play is over, the players will rotate clockwise, and the player who's swaps with the leader will take their spot and the original leader will be blinded again. Any questions?"

Almost at once, all the competitors raised a hand. Chris sighed in annoyance. "You guys are morons. Just start playing and we'll tell you what to do as we go on. The game will end after every player has been the leader twice and whoever has the most points, wins. Shark Cowboys, since you guys are down a player, one of your teammates will have to be the leader for a third time. Oh, and any player that removes their blindfold will be disqualified and forfeit for their team. Alright, let's get to it."

Soon, all the competitors were in a group, lined up, 3 people in each row. For the Shark Cowboys, their players were Jasmine, Sanders, Gwen, Cody, Mike and Courtney, who was the only one not blindfolded. Noah and Macarthur stood on the sidelines, also blindfolded. For the Vengeful Bobcats, their players were Duncan, Zoey, Amy, Alejandro, Jo and Leshawna, who was not blindfolded. Dawn, Scott and Samey stood at the sidelines, who were also blindfolded.

Chris stood next to the net. "Alright, competitors, or should I say...campers?"

"Not on your life, McLean." Said Gwen.

Chris gave her a quick glare and set up the game. He passed the volleyball to Leshawna. "Let the game begin!"

Leshawna looked confused at what she was supposed to do, but shrugged and hit the ball to the Cowboys side. Courtney, who didn't entirely understand what she was supposed to do, watched as the ball went over the net.

"Uh...Cody" she said. "The ball is coming to you."

Cody heard, and held his arms up to hit the ball back. But what he failed to realize was that the ball wasn't above him. It was coming at an angle towards him and nailed him in the stomach. Cody grunted and collapsed in a heap to the floor, still moaning in pain.

Chris put his hands on his knees and laughed hard. "Oh my god, that was hilarious." He continued laughing, not noticing the pair of eyes watching the game from nearby.

Chris finally took a breath and continued. "Point to the Bobcats. Now it's time to rotate. Courtney put on a blindfold and everyone rotate." Now it was Gwen's turn for the cowboys to serve. Chris passed the ball to the new server, Alejandro. He hit the ball over again. Gwen watched the ball come over to their side. "Uhhhh...Owen, the ball's coming to you. Hold out your arms and get ready to hit it...now." Owen did as she said and hit the ball at the exact right moment. It went over the net to the Bobcats side. Alejandro hit the ball straight up. "Leshawna, the ball is coming down to you." Leshawna, now blindfolded, nodded. "Hit it…now, chica!" Leshawna hit the ball up, sending it high above them. Since it was nighttime, it was harder to see.

Gwen didn't have enough time to react and by the time she saw the ball, it was too late for her to say anything. "Cody-" But the ball again nailed Cody in the head before she could finish. Again, he groaned in pain.

**Confessional (Cody, wincing in pain): **"Why….?" He didn't see the glowing eyes on the outside of the plane, staring at him.

Static

Another point for the Bobcats.

"Was that String Bean?" asked Leshawna, still blinded. "My bad."

This time it was Macarthur's turn to serve. She looked determined. "Alright, Cowboys, we've got to start stepping it up."

Duncan served for the Bobcats. He hit it over and Macarthur quickly made a plan. "Alright, Big Owe, comin' your way. Held out your arms and hit it up in 3...2...1!"

Owen did so and sent the ball up. "Mike, arms up, coming your way. Hit it...in 3...2...1!"

Mike held his arms up and smacked the ball into the air.

"Sanders, on your hands and knees!"

Sanders turned her head, confused. "_What_ do you want me to do?"

"On your hands and knees now!" Macarthur shouted.

This time, Sanders did as her partner said and got on her hands and knees. Macarthur watched as the ball came down to their side. Quickly, she jumped forward and onto her partner's back, going up in the air. The sudden force caused Sanders to wince in pain.

Macarthur's jump sent her into the air, with her head just over the net. She spiked the ball over. Duncan didn't even have a chance to react to the ball, as it nailed Heather, sending her a few feet back into the sand. She grunted from the hit. Chris and Chef laughed.

Macarthur brushed her hands. Sanders stood up and dusted her hands too.

**Confessional (Sanders): **"I don't know why Macarthur thinks I make a good trampoline. Especially with her doing the bouncing."

Static

Heather angrily stood up.

"Thanks for the warning, Duncan." she said, sarcastically.

Duncan rolled his eyes, but didn't say anything.

Now the Shark Cowboys were on the board.

It was Heather's turn, so she took off her blindfold, while Duncan put his back on.

"Whoever's got the ball, you better know what you're doing." Jo said. She was standing directly in front of Heather. The Diva gave a devilish smile. She threw the ball up to hit. Her hand came in contact, but the ball went low. Too low. It hit Jo in the back of the head. The Jockette staggered in surprise from the sudden hit. She turned around, angrily.

"Who did that?" she said, yelling.

She couldn't see Heather, grinning directly in front of her.

Now the score was 2-2. The game continued.

As the game continued into the night. Both teams racked up more and more points. The teams were also getting used to how the game worked and were able to do more complex plays.

Score: Bobcats 6-8 Cowboys.

It was Noah's turn to serve. He didn't seem all that interested in the game. To make things worse, he was standing in front of an obstacle. Jasmine.

**Confessional (Noah): **"Being bad at sports and having a team that don't make up even one brain cell, is what got me eliminated back in season one. Now it's time to change that."

Static.

Noah threw the ball up and hit it perfectly. It would've gone over, but Jasmine was right in front of him and due to her height and Noah's height, it ended up hitting her in the back of the head.

Chris called out. "No double hits on the first play. That's a point to the Bobcats."

**Confessional (Noah): **He smirked and shrugged his shoulders. "Honest. I tried."

Static.

The now furious Jasmine seethed for a moment. "You think you're funny, little man?" She turned around and threw a punch. However, Noah wasn't where she thought he was. Since the play was over, Noah had changed positions and Owen took his place. The big guy yelled in pain from the sudden hit, which knocked him to the ground. Jasmine thought that maybe she didn't hit the person she wanted to. But she heard laughing.

"I almost wish I could see your face." Said the newly blindfolded Noah.

Jasmine gritted her teeth, then moved to her next spot.

**Confessional (Jasmine): **"That weasel almost got me eliminated once before. I know he's trying to get me to take off my blindfold and lose for our team. I won't let him do that."

**Confessional (Owen): **He had a purple mark on his cheek and was holding an ice pack over it. He sounded a little dizzy. "I think I need to talk to Noah about his plan. Gotta make sure no more ideas end up with me getting punched again."

Static.

Later, Score: Bobcats 11-10 Cowboys

Duncan was the server again for the Vengeful Bobcats. Since the Shark Cowboys had one less player, that meant Gwen was the server for their team. She looked at Duncan, but not in the way she usually did. Duncan knew what she was doing. She was focusing on the competition. He tried to do the same, but with his ex staring at him it made it all the more difficult. He threw the ball up and hit it directly over the net. Gwen took her eyes off Duncan to focus on the ball coming towards her. She held her hands together and held out her arms. She had to move at a slightly odd angle to hit it. The ball hit where she wanted to, but immediately bounced forward, nailing Cody in the head. The ball then ricocheted back into Gwen's face. She winced and rubbed her face. Duncan watched as the ball went straight into the air. It briefly disappeared into the darkness, before coming back down…

...Straight towards Sanders.

Without thinking, Duncan called out. "Hey copper, above you!:

Thinking quickly, Sanders jumped to the side. She heard the ball land in the sand, where she was just standing. She quickly came to figure out what just happened.

Duncan looked back at his teammates. Despite the fact that they were blindfolded, they were all looking directly at him. Even though they couldn't see what he was doing, Duncan shrugged and looked nervous. "I...I owed her one."

Sanders heard this and thought about what that meant.

As the scores and the game drew closer to the end, the game became even more intense.

At one point, a blindfolded Mike jumped up to hit the ball and spike it over the net. He did so and sent the ball straight towards Dawn.

Zoey was the server and went to call the play. "Dawn it's-"

But before The Indie Chick could blink, the ball was launched in the other direction. Zoey wasn't even sure if she had seen Dawn move her arms. The ball sailed over the net and landed in the sand. Mike looked around, unaware of what just happened.

"Did I get it?' he asked

Finally the game was at its climax. The score was 19-19. Alejandro was serving for his team, while Courtney was the only one unblinded on her team.

"Alright, campers." said Chris. "The next point will win the game. So go all out on this play and show us whatcha made of."

Alejandro prepared to serve. He threw the ball and raised his arm to hit it. He hit it dead on, but as soon as he did, a surge of pain shot into his wrist. The ball unceremoniously hit the ground as Alejandro grabbed his wrist.

"Hey." Pointed Courtney "The ball landed on his side. We win the game."

The Shark Cowboys cheered and were about to take off their blindfolds, when…

"Hold it." Called Chris. Immediately the Cowboys froze. "That is not how we're going to end this game. Since Alejandro obviously can't go on, the next player will take his place. Leshawna, you're up."

Alejandro walked to the sidelines, embarrassed, as he clutched his wrist.

**Confessional (Alejandro): **He rubbed the upper part of his hand. "I have sensitive wrists," he said meekly.

Static.

Leshawna got into place to perform the final serve. She, along with everyone else, didn't see the pair of eyes in the darkness, glaring at her.

Leshawna threw the ball up and went to hit it, but as soon as she did, the gust of wind blew through, causing the flames of tiki torches to blow out.

Leshawna jolted at the sudden darkness and couldn't see where she hit the ball. Courtney, Chris and Chef couldn't see either and had no idea what was going on.

Suddenly, Leshawna was attacked by an unknown figure.

"Hey, what the-" The figure jumped onto her back and started clawing at her. She swayed around, unable to get the figure off of her. She bumped into Amy, knocking her down. She looked back up and realized something. Her blindfold was slightly obscured and through the darkness could see what was happening. But she didn't say anything. She simply smirked and put her blindfold back on.

The darkened figure continued to claw at Leshawna, until it saw a light. Chris had just turned on a flashlight, and while it wasn't shining on the attacker, it was enough to spook it and send it running back into the woods. Leshawna rubbed her head and stood up.

"Wha-what happened?"

"And the winners of the VolleyBrawl challenge are...The Shark Cowboys!"

Leshawna looked to see where Chris was. He had the only source of light, and it was pointed at the volleyball. It was laying on the ground, on the Bobcats side.

Leshawna walked up to Chris. "Hey" she yelled. Chris turned and shined the light right in Leshawna's face. She winced and shielded her eyes. "That's not fair. I couldn't see where I hit the ball. The lights went out. And I was attacked"

"Yeah" said Chris, uncarring. "I would start the play over again, but it's gonna take us, like, all night to get these torches lit up again, so...Cowboys win! That means they'll spend the night in the McLean Beach House "

The Shark Cowboys took off their blindfolds and cheered. The Bobcats took off their blindfolds and looked towards Leshawna. Amy thought quickly and spoke before everyone else.

"What happened, Leshawna?" She said, innocently "Why didn't you call out anything?"

Leshawna angrily glared at Amy. "Are you kidding me, you stuck up High School Queen Bee?" She walked up to the twin. "How do you think I got these, huh?" She held out her arms, which had scratches on them. Samey looked down at her arms.

"Are you ok, Leshawna? Those look bad…" she said, concerned.

Amy took advantage of this too. "Quit it, Samey. She's fine. I think she's faking it to get attention."

Leshawna was angrier than she'd ever been before. She stomped towards Amy, but before she could get her hands on the twin, Jo stepped in between the two.

"Hey!" She shouted. "You do not get to hurt anyone on this team, got it?"

Leshawna remained unphased. "And are you going to stop me?"

The two bumped foreheads and were about to throw fists, when Chris interrupted them.

"Alright Bobcats, you know the drill. I'll see you guys at the elimination room. Tonight will be interesting, indeed." He walked off.

Leshawna and Jo looked back at each other and glared.

"We'll settle this tonight." Said Jo, bluntly.

"That we can agree on." Said Leshawna fiercely.

Everyone walked away. Except for Jo and Amy. Amy smirked as she walked to Jo.

"Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" She said slyly.

Jo looked at Amy, but didn't say anything. Amy had a good feeling she was thinking _exactly _what she wanted her to think.

The Shark Cowboys had just entered the Beach House. The inside was very nice. In the room next to the entrance was a kitchen and dining room. The room they had entered had a stairway. Chris stood in front of them.

"Your fully furnished rooms are on the second floor. There are three rooms which are doubles and the other three are singles. There are nine of you, so that should even out. Decide who gets what room amongst yourselves." He walked away.

The competitors looked at each other. Gwen and Coutrney both smiled at each other. Gwen grabbed the CIT's hand and the two headed upstairs with their bags.

"We'll take one of the doubles." Gwen called out.

Mike and Cody turned to face each other and shrugged and they headed upstairs together.

Owen looked at Noah.

"Hey buddy, you want to take the last double?"

"Sorry Owen. But I'd rather have at least one night without any dream farts." Noah patted Owen on the chest and went upstairs by himself. Owen looked on, surprised.

Sanders looked to Macarthur.

"What do ya say? You and me get the last bunk?"

Surprisingly, the large cadet shook her head. "No can do, partner. I'm the wildcard of this season, so I gotta do some unexpected things." She turned, leaving behind a stunned Sanders. Macarthur slapped Owen on the back. "Come on, big man. You and me are bunkin'." The two headed up the stairs.

"Oh." Said Owen. "Ok."

Sanders looked at her only teammate left. Jasmine.

"I guess we'll take the other two singles…?" said the Aussie.

Sanders, still surprised by Macarthur's actions, shrugged.

Meanwhile, the Bobcats were talking to each other on who to vote out. Dawn, Leshawna and 'Sammy' stood in their own group.

"So" said Leshawna. "We're all in agreement to vote for your sister?" She looked at 'Sammy.'

The good twin looked nervous. "But that's only three of us. That's not enough to vote her out."

Leshawna rolled her eyes. "Unless the rest of our team are idiots, they know I would never sabotage our team for no reason. We'll get through this, alright hon'?"

'Sammy' looked nervous at her new friend, but gave a small smile. Leshawna returned it. At the table next to them sat Amy who, despite not looking at them, grinned evilly.

At the elimination room, Chris stood in front of the Bobcats. Most of them looked tired and some yawned.

"Alright competitors" he started. "Since most of you look pretty out of it, I'll cut the dramatics and get to the point. The only thing I'll say is, since we have so many competitors across so many generations, and since we're back on an island, your elimination method will depend on what season you competed in."

**Confessional (Samey): **She looked nervous. "So does that mean, if I get eliminated while I'm here, I have to get put in that cannon again? Hopefully this time it won't be with Amy in it at the same time."

Static

"Alright, I'll speed through this. The competitors who are safe from elimination are...Zoey, Scott, Heather, Jo, Duncan, Dawn, Samey, Alejandro and…"

Samey realized that the only two competitors left were her sister and Leshawna. She glanced at her friend, who looked very nervous. Then she looked at Amy, who sat smugly in her seat.

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

..

.

"...Amy."

Samey went wide eyed when she realized what had just happened. She looked at the shocked expression of Leshawna. She sat frozen for a few moments, before sighing and standing up.

"Leshawna, I present the return of the boat...of losers." Chris said, holding his arms out toward the dock and the dinky boat.

Leshawna looked at the familiar boat and then she turned back around. First she looked at Amy and angrily glared at her. The smug twin didn't seem disturbed though. Then Leshawna looked and walked up to her friend 'Sammy.'

"Take care of yourself, girl." she said softly. "You're a lot stronger than you think."

She gave 'Sammy' a hug. After a few moments, she released it, turned and walked down the dock. Samey watched as the person she had just gotten to be her friend, walked onto the boat.

Without thinking, she ran down the dock, tears filling up in her eyes. The boat had just departed when Samey reached the end.

"Leshawna!" She called out.

Her friend turned and looked back.

"I'm gonna do my best. For you!"

Leshawna smiled and the teary eyed twin, and waved to her. 'Sammy' returned it and gave a sad smile. She watched until the boat disappeared into the night.

Chris looked from the start of the dock.

"Wow that girl cries a lot." He then turned and faced the camera. "Hopefully she gets over herself soon because things are shifting into high gear. Everyone is stepping up their game and you'll get to experience it soon, on the next episode of...Total...Drama...Legends."

It was very late at night when Duncan walked out of the door. He was having trouble falling asleep and thought maybe going outside would help him relax. He didn't know what was bothering him, which annoyed him even more.

He leaned over the guardrail on the balcony and looked up at the stars. He sighed in annoyance. Suddenly he heard what sounded like a twig snap. He quickly turned to his left to see a shadow just leave behind the cabin. He ran over to see what it was. He just saw a figure disappear through the bushes. He thought about going after it, but was too tired to do it.

He looked down and stopped. On the floor was an unopened bag of chips and a can of soda.

He leaned over and picked them up. Being an excon, he was a little suspicious over the whole thing. Until he noticed the note attached to the soda can.

It read: Now you owe me again.

Duncan eyed the note for a few seconds. Then he looked at the direction he saw the shadow go.

Teams:

Vengeful Bobcats: Amy, Samey, Duncan, Scott, Alejandro, Dawn, Zoey, Jo and Heather

Shark Cowboys: Cody, Gwen, Courtney, Macarthur, Sanders, Mike, Noah, Owen and Jasmine

Placement:

22nd: Sierra

21st: Lightning

20th: Tyler

19th: Leshawna

Votes

Leshawna- Amy, Jo, Alejandro, Scott, Zoey, Heather

Amy- Samey, Dawn, Leshawna, Duncan


	6. Ball-oon Busters

There is a wide shot of Kihci Island, with Chris standing on the dock. "Previously on Total Drama Legends...The competitors were brought to a brand new island that gave them a warm, but very painful welcome. Samey managed to make a friend, which meant bad news for her evil sister. However, Amy was able to turn it around through clever planning and...with a little help from an 'unknown' attacker. In the end, she turned her team against Leshawna and sent her on the boat of losers and off the island."

Chris was relaxing in a recliner chair on the dock. "What a girl. Here I thought she was nothing more than every cheerleading villian in every high school film ever made. But she might just have a brain in there. But let's just hope she doesn't burst any more...bubbles for anyone else." He chuckles. "On today's episode, someone's dreams will go 'pop.' But let's see how these competitors 'rise' to the challenge. And who will experience new 'highs' and lows. Find out all that and more, right here on...Total...Drama...L...egends."

Gwen and Courtney clinked their two glasses of orange juices. It was morning and the two were enjoying their reward breakfast. Gwen was still in her PJs while Courtney was in her usual outfit. They both sat at the kitchen table, which was filled with bagels, fruit, bowls of cream cheese, bottles of juice, pancakes and bacon.

**Confessional (Gwen): **"After All-Stars, Courtney actually apologized for the whole elimination chart. She said she felt bad and wanted to make amends. So we met up and I...forgave her. I know what it's like to feel regret for hurting someone you got so close to."

Static

Both were enjoying their time alone, when they heard footsteps. They turned to see their teammate, Sander walking through the door. She wore long pajama bottoms and a t-shirt that said: Charged with Excessive Napping. She yawned and smiled at the two.

"Good morning." she said, a little groggy.

"Morning." Smiled Gwen.

Courtney looked at the Cadet, a little skeptical. "Did you get enough sleep last night?" she asked.

Sanders nodded her head, pouring herself a cup of coffee. "Oh yeah. Yeah. I got plenty...of sleep." She still sounded like she was trying to wake up. Gwen and Courtney looked at each other with a raised eyebrow.

**Confessional (Sanders): "**Ok, I'll be honest. My first night without my partner was a little...hard to deal with. I didn't get a lot of sleep. I've gotten so used to her ramblings over how Cody was robbed from winning season 3, that it actually helped knock me out in about 10 minutes."

Static

The three chatted until Owen walked in. Immediately he grabbed a plate and placed a giant stack of pancakes on it. Sanders turned to him.

"Did Macarthur keep you up at all?" she said, smirking to herself.

Owen placed the plate on the table and started pouring syrup onto the pancakes. "No. Not really. In fact, when I woke up, she wasn't even there."

Sanders almost spit out her coffee from the response. "Wait, what? She wasn't there?"

Owen picked up a fork and jammed it into his breakfast, stuffing the food into his mouth. "Yeah." He said, with a mouthful of pancakes. "I woke up and she just...wasn't there."

Sanders thought about where her partner might be. "She must be looking…" She stopped when she realized that she just said that outloud. The rest of her teammates looked at her, wondering what she meant.

They would've asked about it, but they were interrupted by another entrance. Everyone turned to see Noah, dressed in his usual getup, looking relaxed and grinning to himself. He waltzed in, not even acknowledging everyone else staring at him. He walked to the table, grabbed a single orange, turned and walked out. The rest of the competitors stared at each other, not sure what to make of the new Noah.

Back at the loser cabin, Duncan held the note he got from last night.

Now you owe me again. He read it in his head over and over. He knew exactly who it was from.

The Cadet. He thought again. But why?

Was she trying to get in his head? She doesn't seem like the type to do that. He sat at a table in the mess hall, away from the rest of his team.

He didn't bother getting any food that Chef was serving. He'd been in the game long enough to know how bad Chef's cooking was. He instead had the bag of chips and soda for his breakfast. He made sure to eat it without anyone seeing him. The chips and soda were decent enough, but the note kept bothering him.

"Whatcha' got there?" came a voice.

Duncan looked up to see the only person he somewhat enjoyed talking to on his team: Zoey.

When Duncan noticed Zoey was staring at the note, he immediately hid it behind his back.

"Nothing," he said quickly. He looked away.

Zoey frowned. She wanted to know, whatever Duncan had, if it might distract him from the game. But then she thought about her secret meeting with Mike from yesterday and didn't want to risk bringing it up. She smiled.

"Hey we still haven't found a way to get you on Gwen's good side, so...you wanna, I don't know, think of one?"

Duncan thought about it for a few moments. With the letter and the interaction he had with the cadet from yesterday, he hadn't thought about Gwen that much. He looked back up at his teammate.

"Yeah" he said, still unsure. "Yeah, let's do that."

Zoey widened her smile again and sat next to him.

**Confessional (Zoey): **"I'm glad Duncan still wants my help after all this. Hopefully he starts listening to me...It also helps get my mind off of Mike."

Static

Next to the two sat Samey, who was by herself. She sat on the bench with her arms on her knees. The elimination of her new friend, Leshawna, was in her head all night. She knew that most of her teammates were now against her, so her best chance was to-

"What troubles you?" Came a voice

Samey's head shot up. That was Dawn's voice, but Samey didn't see anything.

"Where…" Samey started.

"Below you. But don't look directly at me."

Samey turned her head slightly down . She couldn't see Dawn immediately, but when she looked down, she saw a patch of green underneath the table she was sitting at. As soon as Samey knew where Dawn was, she looked back up, but continued talking.

"What do you want?" She said, quietly.

Dawn's spoke again. "I want to know how you're doing, your aura is very cloudy and hard to read."

Samey didn't know what aura was, or where Dawn was reading it, but decided not to ask. "I'm...I'm doing alright." She paused. "But I don't know about you, Dawn."

Dawn didn't say anything, so Samey continued.

"Before Leshawna was eliminated…" She subtly looked to her right. She stared at her sister, who was sitting with Jo, Scott and Alejandro. The three were talking, but no one noticed her staring. Samey looked back down. "Before Leshawna was eliminated, it made me realize that my sister still hates me. And I think she's after me."

Dawn didn't say anything at first again. But after a few moments, she did speak. "Why does your sister hate you?"

Samey went wide eyed. "W-What?"

"I don't mean to intrude, but I think it might help to talk about why your sister is so mean to you. I'd find out myself, but I think it would be better if you said it."

Samey didn't say anything. Had anyone actually asked her that before? She couldn't remember the last time she ever told the reason why, or if ever. She didn't know Dawn very well...but she did try to help her when she needed it, so it's the least she could do. With that, she sat back and started.

"Believe it or not, Amy and I were actually pretty close. Not like super close or anything, but we were sisters. Good sisters. I really liked the idea of having a twin." Samey found herself smiling at this, but it soon faded. "That was until our sixth birthday. Our parents had a massive fight. Apparently, my Mom told me Dad was cheating on her and that was the day she found out. Soon after that, they got divorced and split. Amy and I still got to see them every other week. One week we visit Mom, next week we would visit Dad and that's how it went for a while. Mom was great, but it was different with Dad. Every other week, he would treat Amy like a princess, giving her everything she wanted, praising her for everything she did and blaming me for everytime she screwed up. The weeks went by and Amy started to...change. We argued more, her jokes became meaner and she even tried to push me down the stairs at some point. Dad always took her side. I had to walk home from school on some days, even when it was raining, while Amy got to go home in Dad's BMW. Nothing got better after that. She still hated me. Elementary. Middle school. High school. Everything. She wouldn't stop tormenting me. It wasn't until Pahkitew that I finally stood up to her and-"

Samey stopped and looked down. Dawn was gone. Samey looked back up, wondering for how long she was talking to herself. But that didn't stop Samey from continuing.

"Dawn. I don't know if you can hear what I'm saying, but...I can't be around you right now. If Amy was the reason Leshawna got eliminated, then that means she'll eliminate anyone who's associated with me. So thank you, for the help, but please don't talk to me anymore. I don't want to be the reason you're sent home."

She didn't say anything for a while. She looked back up. Dawn still wasn't there. Samey could only hope that Dawn listened to her.

Mike paced around in his room. Cody was also in the room, sitting on his bed, watching him.

"I don't know how I'm gonna do this." Mike finally said.

"Well, if it's pacing, then you're doing pretty good so far." Cody said, trying to be funny.

Mike didn't laugh though, but he did stop moving. "That's not what I'm talking about. I'm talking about being away from Zoey. It's driving me crazy."

Cody thought about what he was saying. "Well all you gotta do is make it to the merge and you can both be together."

Mike sat down on his bed. "Yeah, but that's easier said than done."

Cody raised an eyebrow. "Didn't you make the merge on both of your seasons? As well as make it to the finale? Same with Zoey?"

"Well, it was more Mal who brought me to the final two." He mumbled this to himself. "But that doesn't matter. I just hate being away from her."

"And her being with Duncan." Cody added.

Mike glared at him, leaving Cody to regret his choice of words. At that point he figured saying anything more would just make Mike either angrier or more upset, so he left the room, but not before saying one more thing.

"Look, I'm sorry that you're dealing with this. But you need to find something to take your mind off of it. Otherwise, you're gonna get eliminated before you know it. Then your chances of seeing Zoey will shrink even more." He stood at the doorway for a few moments, hoping to hear Mike's response.

Mike sighed and stood up. To Cody's surprise, he was smiling. Not a big smile, but a slight one.

"You're right." he said "Zoey would hate it if I got eliminated this early. For now, it's the team over anything else."

Cody smiled, as Mike walked towards him. He put an arm over Cody's shoulder and they walked out. Neither noticed the figure crouching outside, scratching at the window, apparently watching the whole thing.

The Alliance stood near each other, looking at the rest of their team. No one else seemed to notice them as they had their own things to deal with. Zoey and Duncan were talking, Dawn was meditating, Samey was sitting by herself and Heather...she just didn't seem to care.

"You know what I just realized?" Said Scott. He waited for someone to answer, but no one did, so he continued. If we get rid of just two more people, we can eliminate whoever we want. If we all vote for the same person, we can eliminate whoever we want because they won't be able to target any of us."

His alliance members thought about this and while Alejandro and Amy grinned at the thought of this, Jo looked at Scott with her usual look of annoyance.

"Well don't go telling everyone that, Country boy." she said. "We can only get further in the game if no one finds out about our alliance. And to me, it sounds like you want us to lose."

Scott shrugged. "Look, I'm not about to purposely lose for our team, but I'm just sayin'. There's a few people I'm sure you want to see gone."

Jo put her hand to her chin and thought about it. "Well I would love to see that black-haired twig gone from the game." She turned to Alejandro. "Do you have any issue with that?"

Alejandro didn't answer at first. He stuttered for a bit. "I-I well, at some point…" He didn't finish. Jo laughed at him. Amy, having not said anything, spoke up.

"Well I think-"

"Yeah, we know." Said Jo, annoyed. "You want to get rid of your sister because...well I don't care. She's gonna be easy to get rid of."

Amy looked at Jo and stood up. "Hey, the only reason no one has found out about the alliance is because I-."

Jo slammed her hand on the table they were sitting at. This startled Amy. She stared at the Jockette, who was now face to face with her.

"If you tell anyone about the alliance, you're getting sent home next. If you think you can blackmail any of us, you're dead wrong, Blondie."

Amy was too stunned to reply. Jo moved her hand back, and she sat back down. Scott glared at her too. Amy thought about what to say next, but didn't speak. She knew if she kept pushing her agenda of eliminating her sister, it would just annoy the rest of the alliance. To make matters worse, they outnumbered her. _Besides, _she thought _Jo's right. Samey_ _will be easy to get rid of, why not let her wallow in her misery a little longer?_

Back at the beach house, the entirety of the Shark Cowboys were sitting at a nice meeting area. All of them were sitting on an L shape couch, talking with each other. The only one who wasn't talking to anyone was Noah, not only sitting away from the rest of his team, but also more engrossed with the book he was reading. Macarthur had also not shown up from wherever she was too.

Just then a loud bullhorn briefly sounded. The competitors stopped talking and listened. Chris' voice followed. "Alright...campers" He chuckled, as most of the competitors rolled their eyes. "Report to the mess hall to begin today's challenge. I hope no one feels 'deflated' because this challenge may make you feel a little...light. McLean out."

The competitors headed towards the door, but Sanders stopped them.

"Hey, does anyone want to help me find Macarthur?" she asked.

The competitors looked at each other, not sure how to answer. Finally Courtney spoke up.

"Look...no offense, Sanders, but if you partner wanted to actually be in this challenge, she'd be here already instead of leaving in the middle of the night."

"She's also really scary." said Cody, feebly.

Sanders sighed and raised her hands in annoyance. "Fine. I guess I'll go look for her."

The cadet opened the door, still frustrated that no one would go with her. But as soon as she opened the door, she was met with the exact person she was looking for.

There was Macarthur, covered in mud and dust, her hat and hair soaking in water. She also had large bags under her eyes. But despite all that, she was still smiling, stoically.

"What's up, guys? Sorry for getting here a little late. Heard Chris said we had a challenge comin' up, so let's move out." She turned and walked into the woods, leaving behind the stunned competitors. Sanders ran towards her.

**Confessional (Courtney): "**How? How does Sanders deal with her? More importantly, how did she even get into any sort of police program? Are they really that desperate?"

Static

As the Shark Cowboys walked in the direction to the mess hall, they crossed paths with the Vengeful Bobcats. Both teams walked beside each other, not talking to each other. Duncan saw Courtney and Gwen next to each other. His talk with Zoey made him realize that forcing himself to talk to Gwen had only made things worse between them. For now, he would have to wait for the right moment. But something else caught his attention too. The cadets. Duncan still had the note, from last night, with him. He knew who wrote it, but now had to figure out why.

Zoey walked by herself, trying to enjoy the scenery. But then she noticed who was walking next to her.

"Hey, Mike," she said happily.

Mike didn't respond at first. In fact, he looked almost scared to answer. Zoey noticed this.

"You okay, Mike?" she asked.

Again, Mike didn't respond immediately. He remembered his conversation with Cody and his vow to focus on the challenge. He also knew Courtney was behind him and how convincing she could be. Without looking towards his girlfriend, Mike finally spoke up.

"Hey, Zoey." He spoke very quickly.

Zoey was confused by this, but decided not to take things any further. She slowed her pace, so she didn't have to make Mike feel any more awkward. She walked right next to Duncan. He saw what had happened. He was too busy thinking about the note to see what had happened, but did see Zoey walk next to him. He noticed she looked a little upset.

"You good?" he asked

Zoey snapped out of her trance, and laughed nervously. "Oh it's nothing. It's nothing."

Duncan didn't care enough to continue asking, so didn't.

Even though Zoey and Duncan didn't say anything else to each other, Mike still felt very nervous just knowing the two were next to each other.

Sanders walked with Macarthur in front of the rest of their team. She looked worried.

"Why exactly were you up all night?" she asked, in a concerned tone.

Macarthur brushed off some of the dirt and twisted her hat to drain the water from it. "Oh you know…" she said, ominously.

Sanders raised an eyebrow. "Enlighten me, then."

Macartur didn't answer, but Sanders knew what her partner was hiding from her. "Were you looking for the invisi-"

Macarthur shoved her hand across Sanders mouth suddenly. "Yes. That. Don't go around telling everyone." She took her hand away.

"Look, I think you're taking this game too seriously." said Sanders. "I know you think everyone is so intense but it wouldn't kill you to be a little nice to them. Maybe actually talk to them instead of isolating yourself like you are-"

Sanders stopped and turned around. She realized Macarthur was no longer next to her. A couple feet back, Macarthur had her face pressed against a tree, snoring away. Sanders groaned, and attempted to carry her partner to the rest of her team.

Owen and Noah walked next to each other. Neither said a word to the other. Owen looked like something was on his mind.

"Uh, hey, Noah?" Owen finally said.

Noah looked at him, but didn't say anything.

"So, I uh...I wanted to talk about what happened last night...with uh...with Jasmine punching me."

Noah didn't say anything again, but rolled his hand around to let Owen know he could continue, which he did.

"Yeah, so it kinda hurt to get punched and all. And well...I kinda figured the punch was meant for you...and I got hit…"

"So your point is that you don't want to get hit?" Asked Noah

"Uh, yeah that."

Noah gave a dull grin. "Sure thing, buddy. Just don't be in the way when I'm around Jasmine." And he walked away. Owen stopped in his tracks to think about what was just said.

**Confessional (Owen): **"Well at least I know my little buddy cares about ." He paused and thought about what he said. "I-I think."

Static.

The competitors arrived at the mess hall which Chris stood in front of.

"Alright, welcome competitors to your first challenge on the-" he stopped. Then he pointed at each competitor, counting them under his breath. He stopped and put his fists to his hips, annoyed. "Alright, Shark Cowboys, what happened to your Cadets? Again."

The Shark Cowboys looked around, and sure enough, Macarthur and Sanders weren't there. After a few moments, they heard a call.

"We're right here."

The competitors turned to see a struggling Sanders, with a snoozing Macarthur at her side.

"Sorry, we're late...she didn't get a lot of sleep last night." Sanders said, half tired, half annoyed. She shook her partner around a little, startling her awake.

"Huh? Wha? What's going-" Macarthur tried to regain her composure. She shook her head, clearing away the dizziness. She looked at the rest of her team and smiled. "Hey guys, what's up?"

The rest of her team looked at her, amazed by the cadet and the way she acted.

**Confessional (Courtney): **She crossed her arms, annoyed. "That cadet is nothing but trouble. If she costs us this game, she can find herself on a first class ticket out of here."

**Confessional (Scott): **"Those girls were the winners of a season?"

**Confessional (Sanders): **She sighed. "I thought Macarthur was hard to deal with during the Race, but this...I don't know what this is."

**Confessional (Macarthur): **She sat on the toilet, snoring away. She started to lean forward, hitting the camera before completely falling out the door to the confessional.

Static

"Anyways…" Chris continued. "Allow me to get our challenge started." He turned and held his hand next to his mouth. "Oh...Chef?"

The competitors looked and saw a large figure, popping out from above the trees, before falling back down, disappearing. It jumped again and came closer. As it moved into view, the competitors realized it was Chef, with three medium size balloons on string attached to his back. He finally daintily landed on the ground in front of the competitors.

Chris smiled and spoke up. "As you can see, Chef has three balloons attached to his back."

"What's in those things?" asked Heather, astonished.

"I'm glad you asked." Chris said, enthusiastically. He walked over to a nearby canister, and put a deflated balloon over the nozzle and turned it on. "This is a special kind of helium. It can make any object it's attached to seem light as a feather, depending on how many you have." He tied the now inflated balloon and held it with both hands. Then he jumped up and got a solid feet of airtime, before fluttering back onto the ground. The competitors watched in surprise, except Macarthur, who was having trouble staying awake.

"The more balloons you have, the higher you'll jump." He paused and turned to Chef. "Chef, would you like to explain the rules of the challenge?"

Chef grinned and turned to the rest of the competitors. "Alright, fools!" He yelled, startling the people in front of him, including Macarthur, who was jolted awake. "This game is gonna be a team game. So I better see all you egomaniacs helping each other out. This game is...Balloon Busters."

Most of the competitors snickered at the name, leading to Chef yelling at them again. "Is something funny to all of you?!" The competitors shook their heads and went silent. Chef continued. "6 on each team will have three balloons attached to their backs, you will be responsible for keeping your team in the game. The remaining maggots will be the poppers. Your job is to pop the other teams balloons-"

Chris cut him off, with a shovel in hand. "And if you want to see what that looks like…" He swung low at Chef's feet. Quickly thinking, Chef jumped to avoid the shovel. He grinned, but when he realized he was climbing higher into the air, he realized what was going on.

Chris grinned and put a handful of pellets into his mouth and, using a metal straw, spit them at Chef. They scattered towards him as he covered his face. One balloon popped, then another and then the last. Chef fell to the ground, with a loud thud and lay in dirt in pain. Chris chuckled, and continued explaining the game.

"The poppers will each have a bag of pellets and a metal straw to shoot them-"

He was suddenly cut off by Courtney. "Uh, excuse me, Chris?-"

"I was getting to that, Courtney." He said, annoyed. "The pellets are non-toxic and edible. And they melt if they're in your mouth for too long, so don't worry about choking." He paused, as Courtney looked on, satisfied, but annoyed for being interrupted. "Since there are nine of you on each team, there will be three poppers and six ballooners. The ballooners will get three balloons each, and the poppers will each get a bag of pellets." He pulled out a list. "Now for the teams…"

"For the Bobcats, Amy, Zoey, Dawn, Scott, Heather and Alejandro will have the balloons attached, while Duncan, Jo and Samey will be the poppers."

Jo seemed skeptical at this.

**Confessional (Jo): **"The last time I got a chance to shoot something in a challenge, I cost my team the game and got sent home. I'm not about to let that happen again. Even though I really want to shoot Heather with something."

Static.

"I just hope this worm isn't a shooter." Jasmine said, pointing to Noah.

Noah rolled his eyes. "Well if you're a ballooner, that will make you an easy target."

Jasmine glared angrily at him. Owen remembered what his buddy had said, so he took a step back away from the two. Chris interrupted them.

"Well actually, both of you are ballooners." The two were surprised by this, but Chris went on. "Along with Gwen, Macarthur, Mike and Cody, you six will be the ballooners for the Cowboys. Sanders, Owen and Courtney will be the poppers. The playing field will be the forest area, it runs about a few miles that way." He pointed to the left. "Once either every ballooner from one team is eliminated or the timer runs out, the game will be over. Whichever team has more balloons still in the game, will win. Now. Let's. Get…"

He pointed his index fingers to the competitors, but they seemed confused over what he wanted them to do. After a few moments, Chris sighed and put his hands down, defeated. "To it…" he mumbled. Then he spoke in his regular voice. "We'll give the ballooners a fifteen minute head start to get into the forest. So let the game begin."

The ballooners soon had their balloons attached, while the shooters had their bags of pellets attached their side and metal straw in hand.

"Are you sure you'll be ok?" Sanders nervously asked her partner.

Macarthur had her three blue balloons on a string attached to her back. She waved her hand. "Nah I'll be fine," she said, starting to walk forward "If I keep moving I should be focused. Don't worry about me, I'll-" Macarthur ran into a tree that she wasn't looking at. Sanders moved to check if she was ok, but she was waved off.

"That's my wake up call, I'll be alright." Macarthur headed into the forest, leaving behind the nervous looking Sanders.

Gwen jumped and practically flew into the air. She turned and smiled at Courtney. "Hey, Court. Do I look like an angel?"

Courtney blushed a deep shade of red and covered her face with her hands, embarrassed.

"Yeah, you do." Duncan said quickly.

Gwen was surprised by the response from the excon. She stared for a few moments, before turning around, heading into the woods. Courtney stared at Duncan too, utterly baffled by the response. Duncan looked at her, and everyone else staring at him. He suddenly realized just how embarrassing his situation was.

Later, the six poppers were still sitting at the mess hall, waiting for the signal to start. Sanders sat nervously by herself, looking into the forest.

"You ready to do this?"

Sanders jumped, and turned. It was Owen, grinning at her. She stuttered to find a response.

"Oh umm, yeah I'm totally ready. All the way. Let's do it." Sanders smiled and tried to sound amped up, but was clearly faking it. Owen was about to ask about it, but was interrupted.

"Well I just hope your partner knows what she's doing." Sanders and Owen turned to see Courtney, who looked towards the forest, stood ready, with her hands to her hips. She turned her head to Sanders. "And I hope _you _know what you're doing too. I already have a tough time dealing with your rubble rouser of a partner acting like she's the boss here." She turned back to facing the trees

Sanders frowned at the response, but then she thought of something. She grinned cheekily.

"Well, Macarthur can be reckless at times, but she can also be a really valuable teammate. I guess you can say she can be my...angel."

Courtney tried to remain stone faced at the call back to what Gwen said to her, but Sanders and Owen could see Courtney's face turn a bright shade of red, as well as her desperate attempt not to show it.

"Oh, that was cute." Owen laughed.

Sanders smiled at her successful joke.

**Confessional (Sanders): **"Ok. Maybe I need to relax. Macarthur's good in difficult scenarios. She's tough and resilient. I know she can do this. She'll prove Courtney wrong…I hope."

Static

In the forest, Macarthur was walking through the forest, with no one else around her. She was having a lot of trouble staying awake. Finally she put her hand on a tree and stopped for a few moments. She took a step forward, unaware of the root from a tree right in front of her. She tripped and fell forward. But in the process of falling, she had somehow fallen asleep at that moment. And because of the balloons on her back, instead of falling to the floor, she started floating. Now she was floating a few inches off the ground, still snoring. She continued to move down the path she was walking, completely unaware.

Back at the mess hall, Duncan sat on a bench, looking at the note he had in hand. He then looked back up at the cadet in the distance. He saw Sanders with her teammates.

_Why would she leave a note? _He thought. _She knows we're on opposite teams, right?_

The thoughts clouded his mind. Suddenly he was slapped in the back.

"Let's see some game faces, Prison Boy. No room for slackers on my team." Jo said, like a military sergeant.

Duncan stood up, annoyed. "Try that again...and you will see me behind bars again."

Jo ignored the threat. "Just don't try to mess this up, got it? I still remember you helping one of the other team's members yesterday."

Duncan turned and scoffed. "You were completely blind, you have no clue what happened."

Jo still remained unphased. "Yeah but my ears work perfectly. I know exactly what happened."

Duncan turned around and was about to hurl another insult, but he looked at something behind Jo. He stopped himself. Jo noticed this and turned around. She came face to face with the third popper: Samey. Now that both were looking at her, she became very nervous. She smiled uncomfortably and put a hand behind her head.

"Ummm...go team?"

Jo and Duncan still looked at her weirdly, but didn't say anything. Jo still remembered what Amy had said about her. But looking at the overall nervousness on the sister's face made Jo a little less annoyed. Her thoughts were cut off by the sound of a buzzer.

"15 minutes have passed. Poppers, you may enter the forest and let the game begin."

The six poppers ran into the forest, remaining in a group upon entering.

"Alright," Said Jo to Duncan and Samey. "We'll stick together for now and as we move further in, we'll split up and from there we'll-"

"Uh, Jo..." Came Duncan's voice.

Jo turned. Duncan was no longer at her side. She and Samey turned to see the Ex-con standing a few feet back, looking at something in the distance. The two walked back to him, looking at what he was staring at. They both looked on in shock and confusion.

There, heading towards them was Macarthur.

She was still asleep, still floating and still completely unaware of her circumstances.

She came closer and closer to the three. Duncan, Jo and Samey looked at each other. Macarthur finally came right in front of the three and, without saying a word, Samey, Jo and Duncan pulled out a few pellets, put them in their mouths and shot all three of Macarthur's balloons. She hit the ground, and while she seemed a little disturbed, she did not wake up.

The three Bobcats looked at each other, unsure of what just happened, before deciding to continue the game.

"And the Shark Cowboys have lost Macarthur." Chris said over the intercom

Gwen was further away, trying to find a hiding spot when she heard this.

**Confessional (Gwen): ** "She's already out? Maybe Courtney was right…"

Static

Owen walked through the forest with his blowpipe in hand. He looked around nervously for any Bobcat players.

**Confessional (Owen): **"Last time I had to hunt for someone in the woods, I ended up with some crushed kiwis and getting thrown off a cliff. So, hopefully, this time I'll do better."

Static.

He was also thinking about his conversation with Noah from earlier. He knew Noah wanted to win more than ever, and how Noah wanted to change his game plan. But something bothered him when he looked at his friend. He couldn't say exactly what, but something bothered him about the new Noah.

Suddenly his mind was brought back to reality from what sounded like a small THUD sound. His eyes darted from side to side. He dived into the nearest bush and stuck his head out from it. He didn't hear anything, but when he turned he saw what the source of the sound was. He gasped, and went wide eyed from what he saw.

There was Dawn, in lotus position, floating midair, being held up by the balloons (or maybe that's what she wants us to think). Her eyes were closed as she was meditating. Finally Owen was able to snap out of his trance. He looked at his bag, opened it and pulled out half a handful of pellets. But when he looked back up, Dawn was gone. He turned his head to the left, still didn't see anything. He turned it to the right, still nothing. He looked back to where Dawn was, before realizing something. He turned back to the left and there was Dawn, still with her eyes closed and in midair lotus position. Owen jumped at the sudden appearance, dropping the pellets in his hand. Quickly thinking, he pulled out another handful of pellets, put them in his mouth and, with the blowpipe, shot the pellets at Dawn. But despite shooting them point blank at her, none of the pellets hit her or the balloons.

It's like they phased through her.

Owen gaped in amazement and confusion. Without opening her eyes, Dawn turned midair and started floating away. Owen, not willing to give up that easily, followed her.

Heather had been running from something. An oncoming barrage of pellets. She had already lost one balloon and was barely managing to dodge the pellets.

"Courtney, we were on a team once." She shouted back. "Give me a break."

Courtney was beginning to reload and shot again. She smiled. "But we're having so much fun, don't you think so?"

Heather growled at the reply. Suddenly another balloon popped, leading Heather to pick up the pace. She decided her best option was to throw the CIT off. She suddenly veered right. Courtney turned to where she went, but didn't see anyone. She decided to go in the same direction. Little did she know, Heather had only ducked behind one of the trees. She hadn't gone anywhere. She smiled and went in the other direction. But she didn't see what was in front of her. She smacked into something. Or rather, someone.

She looked to see Amy, also rubbing her head from the impact.

"Watch where you're going!" yelled Heather

Amy glared at the diva, but didn't say anything at first.

"What?! Not going to say anything? Do you only talk to Jo, Scott and Ale-jandro?" Heather said Alejandro's name in a rather weird way. Amy noticed this, and thought of a plan.

"Oh, don't worry. I have no interest in Alejandro. He's all...yours."

Heather twitched at this, and her face went red with either embarrassment or anger. Amy couldn't tell. Heather was about to tell the sister exactly how she felt, when suddenly her last balloon went pop. She was out. Courtney jumped out of the bushes, continuing to shoot. One of Amy's balloons had also been shot, and she decided not to stick around any longer. She took off, leaving behind the baffled and annoyed Heather. Courtney gave a mocking wave as she ran past.

**Confessional (Heather): **"Who does that wannabe me think she is? I can run circles around her." She looked like she was about to start ranting, but took a breath. "But she's not getting to me." Her eye twitched though.

**Confessional (Amy): **"Maybe if I can get Jo to think I have something against Heather that might make her trust me more." She chuckled. "I am a genius."

Static

Noah, like Heather, was trying to avoid someone. Jo and Samey were both shooting at him, trying to hit his balloons. Somehow, the brainiac still had all his balloons intact and was doing a good job at avoiding the oncoming pellets. He pranced as he ran too.

**Confessional (Noah): **"Maybe I would've done good at the dodgeball challenge at season 1if I actually participated, but that's still beneath me. This is too, but 5 million dollars makes it worth it."

Static

Noah turned his head back. The pellets had stopped firing at him, and he noticed Jo and Samey head in another direction, away from him. He smirked to himself. He didn't notice what was in front of him. He ran right into the back of someone. Both of them fell to the ground in a heap. Noah looked up to see that the person he had run into was, none other than, Jasmine. He rolled his eyes.

"Of course, I ran into _you_."

Jasmine was about to retort in anger, but stopped herself. "And just my luck I ran into a weasel."

Noah smirked "Is that the best insult you can come up with?"

Jasmine stood up, as did Noah. "I can do more than throw insults." She growled

Noah was still unphased. "Please, I just outran a jock with a huge superiority complex and a cheerleader, do your worst."

Jasmine tried not to act like what he was saying was bugging her. She closed her eyes and pinched her nose "I...can't even deal with you right now…"

Noah smirk grew wider. "Finally you come up with a halfway intelligent thought."

Jasmine turned around and faced him. "And what's that supposed to mean?"

"Oh, you know just that the biggest mistake you ever made, aside from dating a zombie obsessed high school dropout, was messing with me. I am obviously smarter, and better equipped than you are and the mere fact that you think you have a chance of beating me in this season is just- Are we floating right now?"

Jasmine stopped being angry for a moment. She looked down. During the collision of the two, both of their balloons had gotten tangled together. Since there were now six balloons, instead of three, it made the two competitors seem light weight. They rose higher, past the trees. They rose higher again. Soon they could see the entire forest, then the ocean that surrounded the island. They were forty feet in the air, before they stopped rising. And for the first time, neither Noah nor Jasmine looked at each other with pure hatred. That was instead replaced with...absolute terror. Both took a deep breath and let out a blood curdling scream that could be heard for miles and miles.

Duncan lurked around the forest, trying to find someone to shoot at. He hadn't found anyone since he, Jo and Samey all split up. At this point he was bored. Shooting stuff wasn't as fun without anyone to shoot at.

Suddenly he heard a rustle from one of the bushes. He stopped in his tracks and hid behind a tree. The rustling sound grew louder. He didn't know what to expect. He carefully opened his poach and pulled out a handful of pellets, putting them into his mouth. He quickly jumped out from behind the tree and took his shot.

"Hey quit it, what are you doing?" came the voice.

Duncan recognized who it was and stopped shooting.

"What are you doing here?" he said

The figure stepped out of the shadows and revealed herself to be Sanders. She rubbed her arm from being hit by the projectiles.

"Oh, you know, just trying to play the game, not shooting at players who don't have balloons attached to them, what about you?" Sanders said with a hint of annoyance.

Duncan didn't say anything at first. He knew he shouldn't have assumed that a ballooner was near him. He felt bad for what he- wait, no. He didn't feel bad for anything.

"Just stop annoying me, ok?" he blurted out.

Sanders raised an eyebrow. "What are you talking about?"

Before Duncan could stop himself from doing anything else, he pulled out a slip of paper from his pocket. "I'm talking about _this_." He opened the note so she could read it

Sanders eyed the note, quickly recognizing it. She was surprised Duncan came to her to ask about it.

"Oh yeah, that…" she replied.

Duncan blinked. "Yeah, that! Why did you write it?" He growled.

Sanders surprisingly smiled. "Oh, it was just my way of saying 'thank you.' That's all."

Again, Duncan took a moment to process this. "Thank you for what?"

"Saving my head during the volleyball challenge. It was nice."

Duncan tried to find the right words to respond. Finally he crossed his arms and turned around. "Yeah, well don't get used to it."

"Ok" Sanders shrugged.

Duncan turned back around, confused by the amount of casualness from the cadet's response. He walked right up to her.

"Ok, you know what?" He fumed. "I-"

Duncan was about to tell the cadet exactly what he thought about her, but cut himself off. He went wide eyed, as did Sanders, and the two looked up. Directly above them, as in directly above their heads, was Dawn. Still floating in midair and still in lotus position. Neither Sanders nor Duncan could believe what they were seeing. Seconds later, they heard the sound of panting. Owen appeared from the bush next to them, breathing heavily and covered in sweat.

"She is so...so...impossible...to shoot at." He panted. Then he turned his head. "Oh, hey Duncan."

Sanders pulled out her shooter, and grabbed a couple of pellets. Duncan tried to stop her, but hesitated.

Sanders put the pellets in her mouth and shot them at Dawn with the straw shooter. Very quickly, all three of Dawn's balloons popped. But instead of falling to the ground, she gently floated forward, right onto a lone tree stump. All this without breaking her lotus position or opening her eyes. Sanders, Duncan and Owen watched in amazement at what happened.

Sanders then turned, smiled at the excon and shrugged. "Guess you don't owe me anything, anymore." And she walked away.

Duncan watched her leave, mouth agape. Owen looked at him suspiciously.

"So…"

Before he could ask anything, Duncan grabbed Owen's collar and pulled him towards his face.

"Not. A. Word." He said coldly. He let go and walked in the opposite direction.

**Confessional (Duncan): **Frustrated, he started grabbing his hair. "That, cadet…" he seethed, through gritted teeth. "That cadet...what is her deal?!"

Static.

Cody was walking by himself. He hadn't run into anyone since the game started and was getting bored. He found a stump and sat on it. He thought to himself over what his strategy should be if he did run into someone.

Behind him, in the bushes, a pair of red eyes watched him. Suddenly, Cody had an urging suspicion that he was being watched. He turned around, right as the eyes disappeared into the darkness. Slowly, he turned back around. After a few more seconds, the eyes appeared again but closer. Cody turned again, just in time to miss the eyes go dark again. He was getting increasingly nervous. Finally, he stood up to walk away.

The eyes followed him. As Cody walked, he could hear footsteps. Reluctantly, he turned his head in the direction of the noise. He saw a shadow duck behind the bushes. Cody gasped and turned to run.

"Ezekiel!" He screamed "Feral Zeke is here!"

He didn't see the shadow closing in on him. It giggled as it chased him.

Meanwhile, up in the air, Noah and Jasmine were still high in the air, trying their best to deal with the situation.

"I already have a fear of cramped spaces," said Jasmine, nervous as ever. "But I might be developing a fear of heights."

Noah tried to act like he wasn't scared, but was actually just as afraid as the person he was stuck to. "Yeah, I don't have an issue with heights, it's more the falling I'm worried about."

"How can you tell jokes at a time like this?!" Cried Jasmine

"Well, look at it this way. Right before you hit the ground, you'll have something to laugh at."

Now Jasmine was more scared than ever. Too scared to be mad at Noah.

Suddenly, to either the delight or the horror of the two competitors, Chris appeared with a jetpack. He couldn't help but smirk at the two.

"Look, if you guys wanted some alone time, you didn't have to go this high of a level."

Both Jasmine and Noah looked at him with unamused expressions. Chris held up his hands.

"Just trying to lighten the mood. Alright let's get you down." He reached in his pocket and pulled out a long needle. Jasmine and Noah immediately tried to get away from him.

"Woah. Woah. Woah. Are you crazy?!" Shrieked Jasmine. "If you do that, you'll kill us."

"Yeah, gotta agree with the Aussie here, Chris." added Noah.

"Relax" said Chris. "I'm not gonna pop all the balloons. Since six is apparently too much, I'll let you both keep one. It should be easier to untangle, and you'll float down."

Jasmine and Noah were reluctant, but, given their options, they didn't have much of a choice. Both nodded.

Chris smiled and held out the needle. He popped the first balloon. Jasmine jumped at the sound, but noticed that they were starting to lower. Chris popped another balloon. Then another. Then another. Soon, the two remaining balloons untangled from each other to their respective owners. Jasmine and Noah sighed in relief that they would soon be back on the ground.

But not ten seconds had passed, before two seagulls flew right through the balloons, popping them. Now Jasmine and Noah had nothing keeping them from free falling towards the ground. They screamed as they fell towards the earth. Owen could actually see the two falling. He nervously watched on, not knowing what to do.

"If this is it." Screamed Jasmine. "I'm sorry for throwing you in the catapult."

"Uh-huh" Said Noah, not really paying attention to her.

Jasmine forgot to be scared for a second. "What do you mean 'uh-huh?' Aren't you going to apologize for being a jerk to me?"

"Look, if you can't handle a few verbal jabs, that isn't my fault."

Now Jasmine was annoyed. She reached over and grabbed the Brainiac, by his collar. "Listen here,you little weasel. I was decent enough to say that I'm sorry, why can't you?"

"Fine. I'm sorry you can't handle my sarcasm and amazing quips." He actually found himself smirking when he said this.

Now Jasmine was really angry. "That's not what I-

Splash!

Noah and Jasmine were too busy arguing to realize that they were over the ocean and had landed directly in the water. Both came up, surprised, but not seriously injured. It took a few moments to realize that they were still alive. Both looked at each other and smiled. But Jasmine quickly changed her smile to a glare, as she started chasing Noah to shore. Noah, now in a state of panic, paddled as fast as he could away from the angry Aussie.

Owen watched from afar, in bemusement.

Zoey had been having trouble finding somewhere to hide. She was afraid of how much height she would get if she jumped into the trees, so decided to stay on the ground unless she absolutely had to jump.

She suddenly realized that someone might be near her. She looked around to make sure no one was nearby. But when she turned around, someone tapped her on the shoulder. She yelped in surprise and turned around.

"Relax, it's me." said Duncan

Zoey sighed in relief. "Why did you do that? You scared me."

Duncan rolled his eyes. "Well, what would you want me to do? Wave my arms around like an idiot?"

Zoey didn't answer, but realized what Duncan had meant. Then something else popped into her head and she smiled. "Hey, can we talk about the 'angel' thing from earlier?"

Duncan realized what she meant and went wide eyed. He started blushing a little and turned around so Zoey couldn't see it. "No." he said bluntly.

Zoey was persistent. "Oh, come on. I thought it was cute."

"It was stupid."

Zoey tried to calm him down. "It's not like you said anything bad. It was just...poorly timed. But the effort was there. At least, _I_ thought."

Duncan looked back to see the Indie Chick giving him a sympathetic smile. As much as he wanted to be upset, he couldn't. He sighed in defeat. Then he looked up.

"You're not gonna do any good if you stay on the ground." He pointed to a tree that was bigger than the others. Zoey looked at it. "I say wait out in that tree, until the game is over."

Zoey was hesitant, but decided to take Duncan's advice. She took a deep breath and jumped. The balloons carried her towards the tree. Duncan watched her to make sure no one would shoot at her. No one did and she made it safely to the tree. She hid within the leaves. Duncan soon left.

**Confessional (Zoey): **"Hanging out with Duncan is...surprisingly nice. He's a good person, even if he doesn't want to admit it."

Static.

"You may have bested me when your partner was around, but this time it will be different."

Alejandro galloped through the woods, dodging the pellets behind fired at him.

Sanders was having a tough time just trying to keep up. Every time she reloaded, she became more and more frustrated.

"You North American cops may be great together, but as individuals you lack in certain things…"

He turned around suddenly, and started running backwards, much to Sanders' confusion.

"...like agility…" As if on instant, he dodged the trees in his path, narrowly avoiding them, without looking.

"And…" he continued.

He bent over, put his hands on the ground and raised his feet up and started walking on his hands, like he once did in Greece.

"...showmanship." Sanders shot at the balloons again, but Alejandro blocked all her shots with his feet. After a few more seconds, he put his feet back on the ground and ran upright.

"...and of course…" He looked up. Quickly he jumped and grabbed a tree branch and swung upward. Sanders stopped herself, amazed by what she was seeing.

"...a flair for the dramatics…" With that, he swung upward through an opening between the trees and floated away, out of sight.

Sanders took a few moments to catch her breath. She wouldn't say it out loud, but she was glad to stop chasing Alejandro.

A few more seconds past, and she heard something. A rustling sound from the bushes. Sanders heard it, and readyed her metal straw and pellets. But before she could think to do anything else, someone jumped out of the bush, startling Sanders.

The person was Scott.

He smiled devilishly at the Cadet. Sanders wasn't sure what to do or what the Country Boy was planning. Scott then started moving his arms up. Sanders didn't know what he was planning. Maybe he wanted to fight. Was he going to try and take the straw? Or maybe he's-

"I give up."

Sanders blinked. Scott held up his open hands, signifying what he just said.

"No sense in fighting this. You win."

Sanders stared at him in confusion. Scott now had several opportunities to fight back, but didn't take any of them. Hesitantly, she loaded up and shot the pellets at Scott's balloons. All three of them popped. Scott kept smiling though. Without saying another word, he made a tipping the hat gesture, turned and walked away. Sanders was stunned.

**Confessional (Sanders): **"Wha-what just happened?"

**Confessional (Scott): **"Do I care if we win this game? No. It's like I said before. If we get rid of just a few more people, _my _alliance will be unstoppable."

Static

Meanwhile, Mike had been spending his time in a tree. He figured avoiding the rest of the competitors would be the best idea. Plus, he liked to have some quiet time to himself. Without any of multiple personalities crowding his mind, he could actually think to himself. And he enjoyed that. But his thoughts were interrupted, when he heard what sounded like footsteps. Curiosity got the better of him and he looked down. Just as he did, Cody appeared at the bottom of the tree, frantically looking around him.

"Cody?"

Cody looked around again, then looked up.

"Mike? What are you doing up there?" Before Mike could answer, Cody cut him off again.

"It doesn't matter, I need your help now…"

Mike reached out his hand. "Alright get up here, quickly."

Cody reached out from Mike's hand, but before he could be pulled up, he heard a noise in the bushes. They grew closer and closer. Cody started to panic.

"No. It's too late." He pulled his hand away and started running in a different direction. Mike had been reaching down, and Cody's sudden movement caused him to slip and fall forward. He fell off the branch, but because of his balloons his fall was very slow. But it didn't matter.

A shadowy figure suddenly popped out of the bushes. It didn't see Mike and ran past him. However something from the shadow latched onto Mike's hand and started pulling him. Mike could do nothing as he was carried at a frighteningly fast speed. Finally, he reached out his other hand and grabbed a branch. The shadowy figure pulled him, but the branch also held him back. He slowly ground to a stop. But his other hand started slipping from whatever he was holding on to. Mike had no choice but to release it. He was sent flying into the air. The balloons made sure he was carried a far distance, but his trip didn't last too long. He suddenly landed in the leaves of a tree. He popped his head out and spat out an acorn. He still had all three of his balloons intact. He smiled and laughed, knowing that he was alright.

"Mike?"

Mike's smile quickly changed to surprise when he turned his head. He had somehow ended up in the same tree as...

"Zoey?"

The two looked at each other, not sure what to say.

Back on the playing field, Courtney was running around. She still had plenty of pellets, and wanted to use them. She stopped to catch her breath and think of a strategy. But as she did, she looked upwards. She thought she saw something. Or someone. Or rather, sometwo. She wasn't sure, but she thought she saw Mike in a tall tree. And next to Mike was...Zoey and neither seemed to be doing anything.

"That...dunderhead. He's gonna get us eliminated being there in the open." She said to herself, agrily.

At that moment, Courtney heard another noise.

"I see him up there. RedHead is distracting him."

Courtney turned to see Jo and Samey both ready to shoot at the two. She tried to stop them but it was too late. The barrage of pellets came hurtling towards Mike. He was surprised by them and tried blocking them. He was too caught off guard by the projectiles, he mistakenly stood up, making it even easier to hit him. One balloon popped, then the second, followed by the third. Jo and Samey stopped when they realized all the balloons were gone. Mike stopped blocking and took the moment to realize the pellets stopped hitting him.

"Mike, are you alright?" Called Zoey, who still hadn't fully popped out the tree.

"Yeah I'm-"

Mike was cut off by the sound of a loud buzzer.

"That sound means the game is over. Stop what you are doing and listen up." The competitors looked up and listened. "All of you have trackers attached to the device on your back. This makes it easier to keep track of the score, which I have right in front of me. The Shark Cowboys have a total of 5 balloons remaining…while the Vengeful Bobcats have…...8 balloons remaining. Bobcats win!"

Courtney was disappointed. But her disappointment turned to anger when her gaze fell on Mike, who was scaling down the tree.

**Confessional (Courtney): **"I...knew he would cost us the game. I knew it. I called it. I predicted it. He made a mistake once and got lucky. But now, he's not going to get off so easy. I will personally guarantee it."

Static.

Macarthur was still asleep and left in the place she was eliminated. Sanders walked up to her, looked down and sighed. She picked her up by the shoulder and started walking her back to the rest of the team.

Later…

"I'm not so sure, honestly." Said Gwen

Courtney had just finished explaining to Owen, Noah, Gwen and Cody about what she saw with Mike.

"What isn't there to be sure about? He cost us the game and has proven to be a liability before."

Courtney countered.

"Yeah but…" Gwen trailed off.

Courtney paused, but realized what Gwen meant. "You just want to keep him around, so Zoey's feelings don't get hurt."

Gwen froze, not sure how to respond. But she didn't have to. "Gwen's got a point." Cody spoke up. "Besides, I think we should vote for that cadet. She was eliminated first in the challenge. Like how does a cop lose in a game like this that quickly?"

Gwen smirked at Cody's response, clearly agreeing with her. She turned to Owen and Noah.

"Don't mind us. This is too entertaining." The Brainiac, who was wrapped in a towel, smirked.

"We're supposed to be a team." Courtney cut off, a little stern. "We need to have the same goals if we want to succeed."

Gwen felt a little annoyed by that statement. "We _are_ a team, Courtney. But that doesn't mean you get to make all the decisions for us."

"Well," Courtney pondered. "I feel like my decisions should be considered the ones to go by since I am the one with any sense of order on this team."

Now Gwen was mad. She turned around and stormed off. Courtney seemed like she wanted to say something, but was too stubborn and didn't.

Cody looked back and forth between the two, worried about what that meant.

Noah, on the other hand, found enjoyment from this. He gave a small laugh and looked at his large friend. "At least we know who we're voting for. Right, big guy?"

"Ummmm...yeah." Owen said, unsure.

Back at the McLain beach house, the Bobcats were picking rooms.

"I get the single." said Duncan, Alejandro, Heather, Jo and Scott said at the same time. This resulted in a huge argument.

"No one deserves it more than me." Shouted Heather.

"You're right." Called Amy. "Cause no one in their right mind would ever want to room with you."

Heather glared at the twin and was about to retort, but Jo cut her off.

"You hate Heather too?" She asked Amy.

Amy simply smirked and nodded.

"You and I are roommates, now" Jo said quickly and the two headed upstairs.

Scott sighed in annoyance. "Alright, Alejandro. You can have the single." He walked up to Duncan. "You wanna room with me?"

Duncan thought about it and shrugged. "I've roomed with worse…" The two also walked upstairs.

Heather and Alejandro gladly took the singles next to each other. Now only Zoey and Samey were left. Both glanced at each other. Samey hadn't had any issues with Zoey, but she also remembered what she said to Dawn.

"I'll take the last single if that's ok." She walked towards the room and closed it behind her. Zoey realized her roomie was Dawn, she had no issue with that but…

Where the heck was she?

Dawn was not in the Beach House. She was still at the spot Sanders left her. On a lone stump, where she meditated for the whole night.

At the bonfire elimination ceremony, all the Shark Cowboys sat on stumps. Gwen and Courtney were noticeably sitting on opposite ends. Macarthur was still asleep, but sitting up right in her seat. Chris stood in front of them, with a plate of marshmallows. He looked kind of bored.

"Oh, my god. It's like everytime one team wins a challenge, they lose the next one. Then when the other team wins that challenge, they lose the next one. There's no surprise. It's just back and forth with you guys. Come on. Give me something."

None of the competitors bothered to respond. Chris sighed.

"Alright you know the drill. You'll be safe if you receive a yadda yadda, and if you don't you'll be yadda yadda. But tonight's vote should be interesting though. So let's get to it."

The competitors waited.

"The following people did not receive any votes:

Owen…

Gwen…

Courtney…

Cody…

And Sanders…"

Sanders received her marshmallow, but was now worried what that meant for her partner, who was still asleep. Chris held up two marshmallows now.

"Hey guess what? Jasmine and Noah both received one vote each. Guess who they voted for?" No one answered. "But they are both still safe." Chris tossed the Marshmallow to them. Noah glared at Jasmine, but then he looked at his friend, Owen, suspiciously.

But now there were only two left: Mike and Macarthur.

"One of you is going home tonight. I find it interesting though that both of you guys made it the finale of your seasons, and now you're here." Mike looked on, incredibly nervous at what his fate was. Macarthur...still hadn't woken up.

"The last marshmallow goes to…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

..

.

"...Macarthur."

Chris tossed the marshmallow into Macarthur's lap. Suddenly she was startled awake. Sanders sighed in relief. Macarthur looked around, trying to get a feel for her surroundings. When she looked at the marshmallow in her lap though, she gasped and smiled. She held it up with both hands up to her face, before eating it.

Mike, on the other hand, couldn't believe it. "So that means that I'm the one who's going home?" Gwen looked at him, feeling bad for him, while Courtney grinned.

Chris pointed at him. "Correctomundo, Mike. And I've got a special surprise for you."

They were now at the dock. Mike was now in an incredibly large toilet that was the size of an iceberg. Chris stood on the dock.

"Since you already got shot out of a catapult last time, I figured the Flush of Shame would be more appropriate. I'm sure you're feeling a little…crappy."

Mike didn't respond to Chris' attempt at the joke. "Can I least say goodbye to Zoey?"

Chris now looked annoyed. "You know maybe if you laughed at my joke I would've been nice and said yes. But because you didn't…" Chris pushed the button on a remote control. Mike was suddenly being flushed down. He screamed at being forced down the drain. But once he went fully under and out of sight, the noise stopped. Chris smiled to himself.

"So long, Mike. May the flush of shame guide you to a better place…" he looked at the camera.

"How will Zoey react? Who's gonna have the guts to tell her? Certainly not me. Two finalists are now gone, but the game still continues. Found out who will be gone next time on Total...Drama...Legends!"

At the loser's cabin, Macarthur and Sanders were the only two yet to enter.

"Bedtime, now!" Sanders said sternly.

Macarthur grumbled. "I've been sleeping all day, I'm not even tired anymore."

Sanders pointed to the inside of the cabin. Macarthur groaned and entered.

After her partner entered, Sanders smiled to herself before closing the door to get a good night's sleep.

Teams

Vengeful Bobcats: Amy, Samey, Duncan, Scott, Alejandro, Dawn, Zoey, Jo and Heather

Shark Cowboys: Cody, Gwen, Courtney, Macarthur, Sanders, Noah, Owen and Jasmine

Remaining Bobcats: Amy (2), Zoey (3), Alejandro (3)

Remaining Cowboys: Gwen (3), Cody (2)

Placement:

22nd: Sierra

21st: Lightning

20th: Tyler

19th: Leshawna

18th: Mike

Votes:

Mike- Macarthur, Sanders, Courtney, Owen

Macarthur- Cody, Gwen, Mike

Noah- Jasmine

Jasmine- Noah


	7. Shirts and Skidmarks

A shot of Kichi Island is shown. "Last time on Total Drama Legends" said Chris' voice. "The Bobcats and Cowboys competed against each other in an epic balloon popping battle. Noah and Jasmine went to cloud 9, while Macarthur took a trip to snoresville, population: her. Scott went back to his old tricks, while Heather found someone new to hate in Amy, solidifying her place in the alliance. As the competition rolled on, Duncan was able to find the answer he was looking for about his little note...kinda. In the end, thanks to some unfortunate timing and a mystery attacker, as well as some sneaky sleuthing by our resident CIT, Mike was in hot water. In one of the most intense elimination ceremonies to date, he was the one to take the flush. Nasty."

Chris was now standing on the dock of Kichi Island. "What will the fallout of this elimination lead to? How will certain people adapt? Will they fall or will they thrive? And most importantly, how will I exploit their reactions for better ratings? Stay tuned because this is...Total...Drama...L...egends."

"Alright, but what specifically do you hate about her?" Jo asked Amy.

Both had spent most of the night talking. The topic discussion mostly revolved around how much they hated Heather. And if the topic ever changed, it would only take a minute to go back to talking about Heather.

Amy thought to herself. "Well, if I had to pick," she started "I'd go with the way she talks down to everyone? Like she thinks she's so much better than everyone here."

Jo laughed at this. "Yeah. It's funny to think she even has a chance this season. Especially with me being here."

Amy started nodding and laughing at Jo's comment, which made the Jockette smile. But as soon as Jo dropped down to do some pushups, Amy rolled her eyes.

**Confessional (Amy): **"I can't believe Jo is this stupid! She thought I was just an annoying cheerleader at first, but ever since I told off Heather, it's like I'm her idol." She paused, then smiled. "Well, I should be everyone's idol, of course. I'm just glad she finally realized it."

Static

On the first floor, at the breakfast table, Duncan and Zoey were talking to each other. Samey was also there, but remained quiet as she ate her scrambled eggs. Neither Zoey nor Duncan noticed this.

"Ok…" Duncan said, with a mouthful of food. "We need to win more challenges because this food is delicious."

Zoey didn't say anything. She just picked at her eggs, like she was confused about something. Duncan noticed this.

"You good?" He asked her.

Zoey suddenly snapped out of her trance. "Huh? Oh, sorry. What did you say?"

Duncan raised an eyebrow. "What's got you distracted?" He drank the last of his orange juice from his glass.

"I don't know." Zoey responded. "Something's just been bothering me and I have no idea what it is."

Duncan headed to the fridge. "It'll probably pass." He opened it and bent over to pick up the large jug of orange juice.

Zoey shook her head. "Look, I wanna change the subject." She turned to him. "What's going on between you and that cadet?"

Duncan immediately sprang up and turned around in a panic. "W-what...what are you talking about?"

"The Cadet" answered Zoey. "The skinnier one. The one who-"

"I know who she is," Duncan cut off. "How did you know about her?"

"Dawn told me. When I woke up this morning, she told me about something happening between you and a cadet."

Duncan scoffed. "Well, I wouldn't believe a thing that freako tells you." He closed the fridge door.

"You may deny it, but that doesn't mean it isn't there." Dawn suddenly appeared from the fridge door that Duncan had just closed. The excon yelled out in surprise and threw the jug of OJ in the air. The jug flew up, causing the liquid from inside to also come flying out. It would've splashed all over the floor but, somehow, Dawn grabbed the jug and caught all the OJ in the air with it. Not a drop landed on the floor. Duncan and Zoey looked on in amazement and shock. Even Samey glanced in at the sight.

"I was there, Duncan." Dawn stated, casually, like nothing had happened. "I saw exactly what happened between you two."

"How could you have seen anything? Your eyes were closed!" Duncan pointed. Zoey and Dawn stared at him for a few moments. Duncan then realized what he had just said. "Look! It's no big deal what happened, okay? Just lay off me." He turned and stormed out into the next room. Zoey and Dawn looked at eachother. Zoey was confused, but Dawn gave a small smirk.

As Duncan exited the room, he didn't see who was standing next to the door. Scott grinned maliciously.

**Confessional (Scott): **"What is going on between Duncan and this lady cadet? I don't really care, but I do know how I can use it to my advantage."

He chuckled as he rubbed his hands together.

Static

"I still don't feel right about what happened. How do you think Zoey will feel about it?"

"She's not on the team, her feelings are irrelevant."

"So do my feelings not matter either?"

"That's not what I meant…"

Courtney and Gwen had been arguing in the cabin. The rest of their team smartly decided not to interfere with the squabble and had left the cabin.

"You never care about how I feel." Gwen crossed her arms

"That isn't true at all." Courtney countered. "When we're in a game like this, we need to put the challenges first."

"Well if you want to put the challenge first," Gwen shouted, walking towards the door "Then don't even bother talking to me."

Courtney watched as her teammate walked out. She looked angry, but when she was sure Gwen couldn't see her, she frowned. She was too stubborn to admit it, but she did feel bad for eliminating Mike, especially if it made Gwen upset.

Gwen stormed out the Cowboys cabin and down the steps. She walked right past Noah and Owen, who were sitting on said steps. Owen noticed her, but Noah didn't seem to.

"What's got Gwen so upset?" He asked. "Do you think-"

"Don't change the subject, Owen." Noah cut off.

Owen suddenly went silent, surprised by the sudden outburst. Noah continued.

"Last night, Chris implied that I voted for Jasmine, which I did, and she voted for me, which I wouldn't be surprised by."

Owen nodded, unsure what he was implying. Again, Noah went on.

"So my question is simple." He paused, and turned to look away from his friend. Owen waited nervously for the question.

"Did you vote with me last night?"

Owen stuttered nervously. "I-I-uh. I-well. I definitely voted for someone. Can't argue with that." He nervously chuckled.

Noah's eyebrows furrowed and turned to Owen. "So you didn't vote for the Aussie?"

Again Owen was caught off guard by the almost cold demeanor of his friend's voice. He took a few moments to respond. "I uh, no. I...didn't really see a reason for it."

Noah jumped up. "She nearly killed me!" He raised his voice.

Owen almost didn't recognize his friend by how he was acting. "Well" he started "From what I heard, it was kind of both of your faults..." he finished his sentence like he was unsure of how Noah would react.

Noah sighed and pinched his nose. He stood in place for a few moments. Owen looked at him, hoping he wouldn't have to hear another outburst. Finally, Noah put his hand down, turned around and walked away. Owen watched him, absolutely stunned by what he was seeing.

**Confessional (Owen): **"Ok, Noah getting mad at me, I'm used to. Even telling me who to vote for, I'm ok with. But...he didn't even say anything remotely funny. What is happening to my little buddy!?"

Static

Macarthur and Sanders were stretching the middle of the woods. After Macarthur's overnight fiasco, Sanders made sure she had gotten a good night's sleep. She did and was now ready for today's challenge.

"I am totally ready for today's challenge." Macarthur said, excitedly.

"I'm glad." Sanders smiled. But despite her smile, she was still thinking about her interaction with Duncan. It didn't make her mad or anything, but she couldn't help thinking about Duncan and the note. She would never write a note like that. At the time, she thought it was a funny joke but now, she didn't know what to make of it. But she didn't tell Macarthur any of it. Knowing her, she would have several theories over the whole thing. None of them Macarthur wanted to hear.

"You know," Sanders snapped back to hear what Macarthur had to say. "If I was the one who went home yesterday, I wouldn't have blamed anyone."

Sanders stared at her, confused. "What's that supposed to mean?"

Macarthur bent over and touched her toes. "I mean think about it. It was between the guy that was too distracted by his girlfriend, or the cadet who couldn't stay awake. If this was the awake-a-than, then..." She then leaned forward and fell onto the ground in a dramatic fashion. "Boom, down and out, I'm gone."

Sanders couldn't believe it. "Ok, please don't talk like that…"

Macarthur scoffed. "I'm not gonna try to get eliminated. That's already been done. It's an old clique at this point."

Sanders sighed. "I don't want to see you go home so early, that's all I'm saying."

Macarthur was about to say something, but was cut off by the sound of a buzzer.

"Competitors!" blared Chris' voice. "Head to the mess hall, now. Today's challenge is about to begin. And I hope everyone shows what they're made of!"

The megaphone went silent. Macarthur grinned at the prospect of the new challenge. Then she turned to her partner and noticed how she still looked a little downcast. She decided to change her tone.

"Hey, listen." she said calmly "I don't plan on leaving just yet. You know why? Because I've got you here. You've probably gotten me out of tons of trouble, that I got myself into. We look out for each other. Cause we're partners."

Sanders was still upset, but she eventually managed a smile. "You're right. Let's do this."

They clapped hands together and headed to the mess hall.

The two teams walked next to each, neither team bothering to interact with each other. Jo, Alejandro, Amy and Scott separated from the group slightly to talk with each other.

"Alright, who should we eliminate next?" whispered Scott.

"Wouldn't it make more sense to discuss this if we lose this challenge?" Alejandro asked

Scott shrugged. "It makes sense to have a plan now. I don't know, what do you guys think?"

No one said anything for a few seconds. Until…

"Well I think we should eliminate…" Amy spoke up

Scott and Alejandro rolled their eyes. They knew exactly what the mean sister would say.

Sa-

"Heather." She finished.

Scott and Alejandro went wide eyed, in surprise, looked at each other, then to Amy.

"Why would we eliminate her?" asked Scott, still surprised by the twin's answer

Amy smirked. "Easy. She's not gonna be that helpful to the team overall. Especially since she only cares about herself."

Jo nodded at the response, much to the delight of Amy. Scott thought about it, but Alejandro seemed a bit hesitant.

"I'm...not so sure." he said, reluctantly. "Heather's very crafty, and if she finds out we tried to eliminate her, she'll make us regret it."

"That...and she's your girlfriend." smirked Jo.

Amy laughed, while Alejandro watched, annoyed and embarrassed.

The competitors finally made it to the mess hall, which Chris stood in front of. With all the teams now stopped, Zoey noticed the Shark Cowboys and noticed that something was a little off. She tried to say something but was cut off.

"Welcome, competitors" Chris announced "How is everyone doing today?"

None of the competitors bothered to answer and just gave him a dull glare. Zoey, however, spoke up.

"Uh, Chris-"

"Fantastic!" Chris continued. "Because I have an interesting challenge for you. Today, it's all about Boys vs Girls." The competitors looked at each other, unsure of what Chris was talking about.

"Um, excise me-" called Zoey again

"If you will all follow me this way, we can start the first part of the challenge." Chris pointed and walked into the woods, where the rest of the competitors followed. Zoey was getting annoyed at this point.

When Chris arrived at the destination, the rest of the competitors looked at what he stood in front of. A large 15 foot pile of boxes stood in front of them. On the tippy top of the pile, there were six flags, three of them were red and three of them were blue. Chris turned to face the competitors.

"This will the guys vs guys challenge." he pointed up. "On the top of these boxes are flags representing your team. Blue is for the Cowboys and red if for the Bobcats. The goal of this game is get all three flags down and into your safe zone." He pointed to where the competitors were standing to reveal a blue circle on the ground. "The red one is on the other side. There are a few other rules though. One competitor can hold only one flag. If one person carries more than one flag at a time, they will face a penalty. However, you are allowed to steal and take the other team's flag as well as your own. Once all of your colored flags are in your zone, that team will win. Any questions?"

The three Bobcat boys, Alejandro, Duncan and Scott, looked over at their opponents, Noah, Owen and Cody and grinned maliciously. Noah noticed the difference between both teams and spoke up.

"Is there any maiming allowed in the challenge?" he asked nervously.

Chris sighed. "As much as I would love to say yes, the producers advised me to keep any injuries between competitors to a minimum."

Duncan snapped his fingers, while Scott and Alejandro sighed in annoyance. Cody and Owen sighed in relief.

**Confessional (Cody): **"The last time I faced Alejandro, he cost me the game and whacked me with a big stick. I'm not gonna let that happen again. Plus I've got Noah and Owen with me and they make great meat shields..." he went wide eyed when he realized what he said. "I-I mean uh….teammates."

Static

"Uh, Chris?"

Chris turned. "Zoey. This isn't your competition, if you want to ask a question, wait until your challenge."

Zoey remained persistent. "I just want one question. It has nothing to do with the challenge. Just please let me ask it...if that's okay."

Chris sighed again in defeat. "Alright, fine, what is it?"

"Where's Mike?"

The Shark Cowboys went silent, especially Gwen and Courtney. At this point, even Courtney was realizing the awkward situation she was being put in. Chris cast a cheeky smirk. "I'll leave that...to the Shark Cowboys."

Zoey turned to the opposing team. They could now see the look of worry on her face. No one knew what to say. Gwen and Courtney looked at each other, seemingly urging the other to say something. Finally, Courtney decided to speak up.

"Ummm...Zoey." She started, nervously. Zoey looked up. "It is with great...great regret that we inform you that...we...were forced to...eliminate Mike...for the sake of...the team."

Zoey didn't seem to react to what Courtney said, as if she was processing what she was just told. Her eyes started to water, but she blinked a few times to make them go away. Then she wiped her eyes.

"I understand." she said, quietly, before heading back to her team.

Courtney looked guilty, and Gwen noticed this. As she walked back, she didn't see Duncan staring at her. He blankly stared at her, not sure giving a clue to what he was thinking.

"Alright, now that that's done with." Chris interrupted "Let's move onto the challenge!"

Noah, Owen and Mike stood together on one side of the tower, while Duncan, Scott and Alejandro stood on the other.

"Oh, I almost forgot." said Chris "This...is a shirt vs skins game. One of the teams will have to do the challenge completely shirtless. I'll let you guys decide who does."

The three Shark Cowboys eyed each other.

"I'm not a big fan of showing skin." Noah said awkwardly

"Normally, I'd be fine with it, but those boxes look pretty sharp." Owen added

Cody scoffed. "Come on, guys. This is our time to show the ladies exactly what makes us so...macho."

"First off, I have a girlfriend." Noah corrected "Second, I don't know what your definition of masculine is, but I don't think your face will be in the dictionary definition of it."

Cody was about to retort, but Chris cut them off again.

"And...thankfully, the Bobcats have chosen to take their shirts off." Chris announced.

Noah and Owen seemed glad about that, but Cody cast an annoyed look.

Duncan, Alejandro and Scott readied themselves for the challenge. Alejandro flexed his muscles, as he would normally.

"Are you ready, amigos?" he asked

Scott grinned and nodded, but Duncan wasn't paying attention. His mind was on something else. Or rather someone else. Or rather some people.

Suddenly a buzzer sounded out, snapping Duncan out of his trance. Alejandro and Scott ran towards the boxes and began climbing the tower. Duncan followed them after a few seconds.

**Confessional (Scott): **"It's so obvious Duncan is distracted right now. And my Papi had a saying about people who aren't focused: If you're not focused on what you're doing, you're gonna get hit with a faceful of manure."

Static

Noah watched as his team climbed the tower. Or rather tried to. Cody was climbing the tower, but very slowly and barely a few feet off the ground. Owen was struggling to get an inch of the ground. But Noah thought to himself.

**Confessional (Noah): **"Having two people who aren't as smart as you on your team is great. It's like having two guinea pigs and I have the freedom to perform any experiment."

Static

Noah eyed the structure and began building a plan.

Meanwhile, the rest of their teams watched on. Except Zoey. She was visibly upset, but tried to hide it. None of her teammates noticed this, and if they did, they didn't care. (I mean I really don't think Heather, Jo or Amy are the caring types).

But someone else noticed.

Sanders nudged her partner. "Why do you think she's so upset?"

Macarthur glanced at Zoey, nodded, then looked back at the challenge.

"Oh easy." She said casually. "Probably because we voted off her boyfriend." She stared for a few moments then went wide eyed. She grabbed her hair. "Oh. My. God. I just eliminated the best couple from Revenge and All-Stars. I just broke up Mo-ey!...or Zike….or…. " She calmed down and pinched her chin. "Mioy? No that sounds weird. Zoke? That actually sounds better." She smiled to herself, then looked at her partner. A few seconds passed before she went back into hysterics. "I just broke up Zoke!" She cupped her hands across her face, while Sanders watched in confusion and embarrassment.

"Let's get a move on, guys!" Yelled Heather to her male teammates.

Cody was now halfway up the tower, while Noah and Owen were still at the bottom. Cody stopped to catch his breath, then realized just how far up he was. He gripped the boxes tighter. Someone was chuckling. Cody looked up and saw…

"Al…"

Alejandro was standing up right a few feet away from him, smiling.

"Yes it's me, my friend." He practically pranced his way to the flag. Without any effort, he grabbed one of his flags and started heading down. "I hope you don't hit the ground too hard."

Cody glared, but was now more motivated to continue. He pulled himself up and kept climbing.

At the bottom, Owen still couldn't find a good angle to start climbing. Noah was still eyeing the tower and creating a plan. His gaze then turned to his partner.

"Owen." he said.

The Big Guy turned. "What...is it...Noah?" He panted

Noah smiled and walked towards Owen. "Come with me." He directed him to the north side of the tower, at the point between both teams' bases. Their teammates watched in confusion.

"What are you guys doing?" Shouted Jasmine. "Get climbing if you want to win!"

Noah looked at his teammate and grinned. "Relax, Aussie, Aussie, Aussie. Unlike the rest of you, I actually know what I'm doing."

His onlooking teammates took offense to that, but were still curious. Now Owen and Noah stood about ten feet from the tower. Noah glanced up to watch Cody, struggling to climb up.

"So what's the plan?" Asked Owen

Noah grinned. "We just need to wait for Cody and then you'll find out."

Cody hadn't got much further up since his talk with Alejandro, but he still went on.

A few seconds later, he saw Scott grab the second flag and head back down.

Now Cody was even more determined to get to the top.

"I'm...not losing...this...for...my...team." He struggled.

Finally he reached the top and came face-to-face with the flags. And Duncan.

Neither knew how to react to each other, but Duncan spoke first.

"What's up, Dorkus?" He grinned.

Cody tried to think of a reply, but for the life of him, couldn't. He didn't have to though.

"Hey, Cody!" Called a voice.

Cody looked down, as did Duncan. Once he was sure Cody could see him, Noah yelled again.

"Grab their flag!"

"What?!" Cody shouted back. Duncan, again, was too amused to grab the last flag.

"Grab their flag!" Noah shouted again.

This time, Cody heard him. Thinking quickly, he turned back to Duncan, and before the Ex-Con could do anything else, he grabbed the red flag and started climbing down. Duncan snapped out of his trance and tried following him.

"What are you doing?!" Shouted Heather at him. "Grab _his_ flag too!" But Duncan didn't hear her. Or maybe he was just ignoring her. Frantically Cody kept climbing down, barely avoiding the Ex-con's grasp.

Noah and Owen watched. After a few seconds, Noah turned to him.

"Alright, big guy. I need you to run and smash into those boxes."

Owen blinked. "You want me to...what?"

Noah raised his voice. "I need you to run. Go. Go. Go…"

Without thinking, Owen started running forward, towards the boxes. He wasn't sure what he was supposed to be doing, but did it anyway. Once he was a foot away, he jumped towards the tower, crashing into the boxes. Pieces of woods flew everywhere. Noah watched his plan come into motion.

With the tower suddenly losing some of its boxes, it started to sway. Cody noticed this and struggled to hang onto both the flag and to keep his balance. Duncan was also struggling to remain upright.

Suddenly the tower started to lean forward. But it didn't stop and go the other way, it kept moving.

Owen stood up and rubbed his head. He had a few splinters on his arms. A shadow cast over him and he looked up to see what it was. It was the tower falling over him. Owen screamed in sheer terror as the boxes collapsed over him, burying him. Cody also screamed in terror, while Duncan gripped on for dear life. Cody suddenly saw a nearby tree and grabbed onto its branches, keeping him safe. Alejandro and Scott watched in sheer shock, as did the bystanders.

Finally the towers crashed into a heap. Creating a thick cloud of dust. The bystanding teammates coughed.

Once the dust settled, the Cowboys flags lay on the ground, all next to each other. They were only a few feet away from the team's safe zone. Noah walked up to the flags and, picking them up one by one, placed them into his zone. He grinned triumphantly, before turning.

"And I believe that...I just won the game."

The rest of his teammates were still utterly shocked by what just happened and didn't say anything. Chris broke the silence though.

"And with that...somehow...Noah wins for his team. The Shark Cowboys take the first point."

The Cowboys didn't know how to react to this still, but some were able to smile.

As for the Bobcats, only one teammate had snapped out of their trance.

"Are you kidding me?!" roared Heather. "You three idiots," she pointed at Scott and Alejandro (Duncan was still under the boxes). "...couldn't win this?! What kind of morons are you to lose like this? You lost to a scrawny pervert, a guy who can't see his own toes and Noah." She groaned and walked away in frustration. "Ugh, I guess I have to carry this team."

It got quiet for a bit. Amy and Jo looked at each other and grinned. Then the rest of their alliance buddies. Scott gave a thumbs up. Alejandro paused for a few seconds and then nervously, nodded his head in agreement. Jo and Amy looked at him, suspiciously.

Owen came out from the pile and groaned. Cody had also come down from his tree. He walked over towards his teammate.

"Owen, are you alright?"

Owen rubbed his head and groaned. "Yeah." he coughed. "I've been better though. Honestly, I'm used to it at this point. First season, I got thrown off the cliff. Second, I got my jaw broken. Third, got crushed by a plane. And in the fourth season that I wasn't part of, I got blown up."

Cody looked at him, worriedly. "Did Noah know you would get hurt?"

Owen laughed. "What? No, of course not. Noah knows that I'm durable." He beat his chest with his fist, before wincing in pain. But he didn't want Cody to see it, and smiled through the pain. "See?" he said, with gritted teeth. "What doesn't kill me only makes me stronger."

He turned and walked towards the team. Cody wasn't sure though. He had no idea what Noah could be thinking, but he had his doubts that Owen's safety was on his mind. He followed Owen, unaware of the shadowy figure stalking towards him.

The competitors arrived in the next challenge area. In front of them was something that looked like…

"Is this a roller rink?" asked Gwen.

"That it is, Gwen." Announced Chris. "Or rather a roller _derby _rink!"

Indeed it was. In front of the competitor was what looked like an almost oval-shaped wooden race track. It had barriers surrounding it, and the two 180 degree curves were slightly tilted. Some of the pieces of wood on the track were slightly sticking out, while others had a few nails that weren't fully hammered in.

"You gals will be getting to hammer out all that aggression onto each other in this ultimate sport."

"Um, Chris?" Courtney raised her hand. "I think it's unfair to enforce the negative stereotype that all women have something against each other. I've worked with several female colleagues who were all very pleasant and-"

"Yes, thank you for the lesson, Courtney." Chris groaned

"She doesn't speak for all of us, by the way. I hate just about everyone here." Heather added. Most of the competitors glared at her.

"Anyways…" continued Chris. "How you play roller derby is like this." Suddenly Chef appeared on the race track, wearing a pair of roller skates, a helmet, elbow and knee pads and really tight fitting short shorts (for some reason). Most of the competitors gagged at the sight of this. "The name of the game is to get rid of the other team. You do this by knocking them out of bounds." Chef started roller blading around the arena. Ahead of him was a stuffed dummy made of straw. He skated towards it and slammed his elbow into it, sending it out of the arena and into a tree. It disintegrated on impact. Chef smiled at what he had done, but forgot to watch where he was going. By the time he looked up it was too late. He skated into the protecting wall, and fell forward, face planting in the dirt.

Chris chuckled. "You're eliminated the moment you leave the ring, whether you're knocked out, or go out on your own terms. You could lay down on the wood to not get eliminated, but then you'd risk getting run over and trampled. Alright...I'm gonna need five lovely competitors from each team." He turned to the Shark Cowboys. "Cowboys, you already have five females, so your team is set." Then he turned to the other team. "Bobcats, one of your teammates is gonna have to sit out. I'll let you decide who gets to do it."

Before any of the Bobcats could say anything, Heather yelled out.

"You losers think you can do this without me? Let's see how well you do without your best player!" And she walked to a bench next to the arena.

Before any of the Bobcats could reject, Chris pointed to the pile of equipment to his right.

"Alright, competitors, put on your gear and get ready to rumble!"

The Bobcats glared at Heather as they went to put on their gear.

"At least we don't have to do the challenge shirtless." muttered Jasmine to her team.

"Actually…" Chris spoke up

"NO!" Every female competitor, except Macarthur, exclaimed.

"HECK YEAH!" Macarthur shouted, at the same time as everyone else.

Chris held up his hands. "Kidding, kidding."

As she was putting on her helmet, Jo turned to see her male teammates. Alejandro and Scott were sitting on another bench next to Heather's. She looked back at her teammates.

"Where the heck is Duncan?" she asked.

Her teammates looked around, except Zoey, who seemed to be in her own mindset. None of them knew where the Ex-con was.

Back at the first challenge site, some boxes started shaking. Suddenly Duncan popped out from the pile he was under, rubbing his head and groaning in pain. Once he cleared his head, he looked around. No one was around and no one had come back for him. The Ex-con grimaced.

**Confessional (Duncan): **"Yup," he said, annoyed "I pretty much hate everyone on my team right now."

Static

At the roller rink, all the female competitors were in place. Sanders, Courtney, Gwen and Jasmine stood next to their rivals: Amy, Dawn, Samey and Zoey. Jo and Macarthur stood further behind the groups.

"Now to explain how this will work, again" Chris started "Jo and Macarthur will be blockers for their respective teams. They can cause any matter of chaos to eliminate the other team. I'm not entirely sure if this is how actually roller derby works, but I don't care. And unlike the last game, you may maim each other to your heart's content. After 20 minutes, whichever team has the most amount of players remaining will be the winners. So competitors...on your marks…"

Every competitor readied themselves to start.

Jo scrunched her nose, while Macarthur psyched herself by slapping her cheeks.

"...get set…"

Heather looked at her nails, while Alejandro and Scott watched the competition. Zoey sniffled, but tried to remain focused.

"...Get...to it!"

Chef sounded a horn and the race was one. Quickly almost every competing competitor rolled forward, each trying to get ahead. Jo and Macarthur bumped shoulder to shoulder, from the back. Courtney tried to prevent herself from bumping into anyone, Jasmine tried to maintain balance and was starting to fall back.

Jo noticed this and pushed away from Macarthur. Quickly thinking, she held her hands out and shoved Jasmine forward. The Aussie was caught off guard as she was sent careening forward. She crashed straight into the wall and fell over it, landing face first in the dirt, but her legs still hanging in the air.

Noah tried stifling a laugh, but couldn't help it and started chuckling. He looked at Owen, who looked back, a little confused. Noah elbowed him, and Owen started laughing nervously. Jasmine glared at him with her dirt covered face.

**Confessional (Jasmine): **"I thought Owen was a cool guy. But I guess I was wrong. He's becoming another Noah."

**Confessional (Owen): **"I really hope Jasmine doesn't think I'm a jerk because I laughed at her." He paused. "Not that...Noah is a jerk. I-I think."

Static

The challenge continued with the rest of the competitors. Courtney was finally able to regain her balance and kept up with everyone else. Macarthur and Jo led the pack, fighting to get ahead of each other.

"I've eaten chumps like you for breakfast." Macarthur provoked

"Well, I don't go down that easy, Crapper." Jo retorted.

Macarthur kept pushing, but thought about what Jo had said. "Is that supposed to be a pun on me being a copper, you just replaced it with 'crap?' "

Jo blinked, unsure of what the cadet meant. "Uh- I uh- I guess?"

Macarthur kept staring for a few seconds, before nodding. "Not bad. Not a bad nickname."

The two kept fighting to get ahead, but Jo was clearly miffed by the conversation.

Jasmine got off the ground and went to take a seat on the bench, away from Noah and Owen though. Gwen was having no issue in roller blading, she easily gilded forward, trying to avoid getting pushed. Then she noticed that Zoey was in front of her. She still felt bad about Mike's elimination and could only guess how she must be feeling. She rolled next to Zoey. She could see the expression of the indie chick. It was hard to read, but Zoey was clearly focusing on what was in front of her. Gwen wasn't even sure if she had seen her roll up. She tried to think of something to say.

"Umm..Zoey?" she finally said.

Zoey didn't say anything, she didn't even look away. Gwen continued.

"Zoey, I just wanted to say that I'm sorry that-"

"It's fine, Gwen." said Zoey, in an uncharacteristically cold manner.

Gwen was caught off guard by this. She paused, thinking of something else to say.

"Look, if you ever want to talk, I'm-"

"I SAID I'M FINE!" Zoey suddenly raised her arms in frustration. Her left hand grazed Gwen's face. This was enough to throw her off. She stumbled, trying to keep her balance. She closed her eyes as she fell backwards.

Suddenly she stopped. She opened her eyes, realizing she didn't hit the ground, but was somehow still moving. She looked up to see…

"Courtney?!"

The CIT had caught Gwen before she could hit the ground and was now holding her by her armpits, rolling both of them at the same time. Courtney smiled reassuringly, but it didn't last. Jo noticed the two and rammed her elbow into Courtney. The CIT was sent off the track, carrying Gwen with her and both fell on the inside part of the course, onto the grass.

"...And it looks like the Shark Cowboys lost another two players." Chris announced.

Zoey realized what had done and stopped in her tracks. She was still on the derby wood, meaning she wasn't out. She looked at Courtney and Gwen in the grass, both rubbing their possible injuries. Zoey covered her mouth with her hand. But she didn't get a chance to feel remorse. Suddenly she was clotheslined by an oncoming Macarthur. She fell back and out of bounds. She shook her head after hitting the ground, now realizing where she was.

"Now the Bobcats have lost their first player…" Chris called.

Now Zoey was left to grieve and think about what she had done.

"It is now four on two, with the Vengeful Bobcats carrying a big lead."

Sanders realized her situation and was becoming a little doubtful, until Macarthur rolled up to her.

"We've totally got this." She said reassuringly.

Sanders didn't answer, but after looking at her confident partner, she nodded back.

"We'll take 'em out one by one." Macarthur added. The two continued forward

Amy kept rolling on. She wasn't going very fast and just trying to stay in the game. She was suddenly passed by Jo, who didn't take much notice of her. But following Jo, Samey appeared. She was tailing Jo, trying to keep either of them from getting eliminated.

Amy thought about this. _My plan was to get rid of Samey_. She thought _I could still convince Jo. Who cares about Heather when I have this chance to eliminate my stupid sister? _

Amy gave a devilish grin and sped towards Samey.

_If I push her forward, she'll ram into Jo. _She planned in her head. _That might be enough to convince Jo and get Samey eliminated_.

She crept closer and closer towards the two. She was about to push her sister, when at the last minute, a flash of blue came into view. Samey suddenly slowed, not knowing that her sister was directly behind her.

Samey fell into Amy's arms. She was surprised to now be tangled up with her sister.

"Amy?!" She cried "What are you doing?!"

Before Amy could respond, the blue flash appeared again. It was Sanders. But where was Macarthur? Suddenly Amy felt hands pushing her from behind. She and Samey started increasing in speed. Macarthur was pushing both of them, directly towards the wall. Amy had Samey in a bear hug. Macarthur gave them one last push, sending them forward. Samey suddenly turned to the side right before they hit the wall. They were suddenly flipped over and fell into the dirt. Both sisters winced in pain. They were out.

**Confessional (Amy): **"Spare-Amy got lucky. I was so close to convincing Jo to get rid of her." She crossed her arms in frustration, but then came to realization. "Yet again. Alejandro and Scott could easily have seen what I was doing, so maybe it was kind of a good thing I didn't get to do it. Next time, I gotta plan that better"

Static

"Just like that, the twins have been eliminated." Chris commented. "That makes it two on two. Jo and Dawn vs the Cadets. This should be good."

"We can take out these two, no problem." Macarthur said to her partner. Sanders nodded and grinned.

"Let's do this," she responded.

Macarthur went ahead towards Jo. Sanders was about to follow when…

"Hey, guys!?" came an annoyed and sarcastic shout.

Sanders was caught off guard. She turned to see where the voice came from.

It was Duncan.

He was angrily pointing and shouting at his team, but Sanders didn't hear what he was saying. Her eyes were fixated on the sudden appearance of the ex-con. It might have benefited to watch where she was going though.

"Sanders!" cried out Macarthur

Sanders suddenly snapped back to reality. But it was too late. She looked forward just in time to hit the barrier and crashed over the other side, landing on her back onto the dirt. It took a few moments to regain her composure. The rest of her team saw what had happened.

**Confessional** **(Cody): **"Why does everyone on every show I've ever seen have a thing for criminals? And not even that, why Duncan?"

**Confessional (Courtney): **"As a former 'associate' of that excon, I would highly recommend staying away from him, unless you _want_ your heart torn in two."

**Confessional (Owen): **"Wow Duncan's really good at attracting cops." He chuckled. "That means two things…"

Static

"Now Macarthur is the only competitor for the Shark Cowboys remaining. But she still has a chance to win it all for her team." Chris announced.

Macarthur slapped herself in the face a few times.

"Alright" she psyched herself up. "You've totally got this. Just think back to Vancouver, at that Dairy Queen. You got through that, you'll get through this."

She started to speed up towards her rivals. She tried to fight Jo to get past her. The two pushed each other.

Jo's team watched with interest and what was going to happen. Well, everyone except Heather. She didn't seem that interested. But something did catch her eye. She noticed one of the planks of wood that made up the roller ink. It was sticking slightly up. She moved her foot underneath it and pushed up. The board was looser than the rest. She pushed it up slightly with her foot. With little resistance, it lifted up as did the rest of the board.

Heather put the board back down and turned. Her eyes fell on Jo and Macarthur, both pushing each other in an attempt to knock the other one out.

The Diva gave a devilish grin as the two passed.

**Confessional (Heather): **"The way I see it, I have a chance to cause someone to crash. If it's the cop, our team gets a win and if it's Jo, I get to laugh at her expense. It's a win-win.

Static.

Heather watched as the two went around in a circle, neither of them giving up their spot. Once the two entered the straight away that Heather was at, she subtly lifted the board. Macarthur somehow noticed this and moved to inside track, but Jo wasn't so lucky. Her right roller hit the wood, causing her entire leg to jerk backwards. She tried to regain balance, but it was useless. She swayed her arms in a desperate attempt to not fall back, as Heather gleefully watched. Jo's roller blades finally hit the inside grass section of the track and she stopped suddenly. She landed unceremoniously on her rump. She took a few moments to realize what just happened before angrily gripping a handful of grass and tearing it out from the ground. Heather leaned back, satisfied by her interference. Little did she know, Alejandro had seen the whole thing from his bench. He looked back at Jo, who was taking off her roller blades.

He could've called Heather out.

He could've certified his place in the alliance.

He could've done something.

But instead he watched as Jo walked towards him and Scott, not saying a word, even when she sat down.

Now it was down to two. The Rowdy Cadet vs the Moon Child. If Macarthur won, she would've won for her entire team. And she knew this. This made her even more determined to win.

Surprisingly, Dawn hadn't been touched once during the challenge. She remained in her normal relaxed state the entire time. No one was even sure if she had moved her legs.

The two teams cheered their respective teammates. Macarthur tried catching up to Dawn, but Dawn was somehow moving faster than her. She glided on the corners with the greatest of ease. Macarthur got more confused and frustrated. She sped up again, but it wasn't doing anything for her. She watched as Dawn calmly glided away from her. Macarthur panted, debating if she should give up. She looked at her team. They were cheering her on, especially Sanders. Macarthur kept staring at them, then faced forward. Dawn had stopped a few meters ahead of her. Something in Macarthur snapped. She gritted her teeth and turned her hat backwards. She bagan skating, slowly gaining momentum. She went faster again. Dawn had started too, gliding without moving her arms or legs.

Macarthur didn't quit though. She went faster. And faster. Finally she found herself getting closer to her rival. Dawn continued to casually glide. Macarthur was directly behind her now, barely keeping up. The Cowboys and Bobcats watched in anticipation. Macarthur was inches away from grabbing Dawn. She raised both of her arms up. She was gonna take her down. She was gonna win the game. She was gonna have a big celebration. She was-

At the last possible moment, Dawn moved out Macarthur's grasp. The cadet was caught off guard and lost control. Her feet jerked back and forth and arms flew around like a maniac. A turn was coming up. Dawn easily moved through it, but Macarthur wasn't as lucky. She hit the retaining wall and, unlike the rest, crashed _through_ it. She lay in the dirt, groaning in pain. The Shark Cowboys watched what happened, mouths agape, while the Vengeful Bobcats cheered as Dawn rolled around the rink.

Chris stood in the center of the rink.

"The Bobcats win this round. The score is 1-1. We're gonna have to go to a tiebreaker. Everyone take five while we set everything up."

The teams dispersed, while Chris, Chef and some unimportant interns grouped up to make the tiebreaker challenge.

Sanders walked with the rest of her group. She was still thinking about what happened. _What happened out there? _She thought to herself _That isn't like me to be distracted. Maybe- _

"Excuse me?"

Sanders snapped out of her thoughts to see who said that. It was Courtney. She strutted up to the cadet, with a suspicious look on her face.

"What's going on between you and Duncan?" she asked bluntly.

Sanders wasn't expecting that kind of response. She stuttered trying to find an answer. "I uh...I-I don't know...what you mean." she responded.

Courtney raised an eyebrow. "You were doing so well in the challenge. Then Duncan shows up, who I might add isn't even on our team, and you lose focus and crash. Sound familiar?"

Sanders couldn't think of a way to retort. What was she supposed to say? She didn't even know the answer.

Luckly, she didn't need to.

"Oh, there you are."

Courtney and Sanders turned to see Gwen walking up to them. She was looking at Courtney. She then turned to Sanders.

"Hey Sanders. Can I have a minute to talk with Courtney alone?" she asked

Sanders didn't waste a second to take the opportunity. "Of course. I'm out of here. I'll see ya guys later." She chuckled nervously, even giving an uncharacteristic finger snap as she left.

When she was out of sight, Gwen turned back to Courtney. Neither said a word to each other, but they looked like they wanted to. Gwen took a deep breath.

"Courtney, I-"

"I'm sorry." came the sudden reply.

Gwen blinked, surprised by the CIT. But she continued.

"About everything. I'm sorry for not thinking about how Mike's elimination would affect Zoey. I know you two are friends and it was selfish of me to only think about myself. I'm also sorry for putting the game ahead of you. It's not fair to you when I do that. So, I'm sorry."

Gwen paused, thinking of what to say next. She could see her teammate's look of guilt and hope. Finally she sighed.

"You were thinking of the team. I can't be mad at you for that. I know how serious you take this game. So...I guess I can forgive you."

Courtney gave a small smile. Gwen returned it and held out her arms for a hug. Courtney gave an unsure look.

"Ok...I know what you want, but our agreement was to remain professional unless there was a-"

She was cut off by Gwen's hug. Courtney didn't react at first, but after realizing where she was, she smiled and reluctantly returned the hug.

Soon enough, the competitors were called back for the tiebreaker challenge. It was somewhat similar to the guys challenge. They were all at the girls challenge area, but there was an addition. Next to the roller rink was a pile of boxes. It wasn't as big as the first challenge's pile. And it wasn't in one pile like the earlier challenge. Rather it was a series of smaller piles.

"The tie breaker challenge will be a mix of both challenges." Chris announced, he pointed to the pile of boxes. "This time instead of climbing the boxes for the flags, it's your job to find the flags _inside _the boxes. Once you find a flag of your own, whichever guy finds it will pass it on the whichever girl is on their team. They then have to do one lap around the roller rink with the flag in hand. Once the three flags have been found and all three laps have been completed, that team will be declared the winner, while the losing team sends another player home. Now for this challenge, only three girls will be competing."

Immediately, Heather started walking away.

Chris pointed at her, stopping her in her tracks. "I don't think so, Heather. You aren't getting to pick who sits out this time. I will. And since you didn't compete in the last challenge, you get to participate in this one."

"What?!" Shrieked the Diva. Several of her teammates snickered at this, leading to getting several glares.

Chris continued. "I will also have Jo and...Zoey, competing in this challenge as well."

Jo grinned at the opportunity , but Zoey wasn't as excited.

**Confessional (Zoey): **"I feel bad about hitting Gwen. She didn't deserve it. I really hope I can apologize at some point."

Static

The chosen Shark Cowboys were Macarthur, Jasmine and Gwen. Macarthur was hyped to compete again, but like Zoey, Jasmine wasn't as excited. After her pitiful performance from her first challenge, she was nervous about having to compete for the second time.

The guys lined up for their challenge. Chris didn't have anyone take off their shirts this time.

"So remember, smash the box, grab the flag and bring it on over. That's the name of the game." Announced Chris. "And the challenge begins...now."

Chef sounded a horn, signaling the start of the game. Everyone except Noah sprinted towards the boxes. Scott and Duncan immediately started smashing boxes. Alejandro held the boxes to his ear and shook them around, trying to hear if anything was in them.

Cody was doing the same as Alejandro, while Owen was picking up boxes and smashing them on the ground. Noah...was leaning against the boxes, not doing anything. Owen noticed this.

"Hey, buddy." he asked "Ya gonna help?"

Noah rolled his eyes. "Honestly, I don't think that I'm suited for this challenge. Breaking boxes is more of a…big person thing . It's more suited for you honestly."

Owen blinked, not certain if Noah was insulting him or not. He decided it was best to ignore it and move on.

Scott, from a distance, watched the two, with a devilish smirk on his face.

Zoey and the rest of the competitors watched the guys do their challenge. She looked over to Gwen, who wasn't standing too far from herself. She decided to take the opportunity to say she was sorry. Quietly, she walked up to the Goth.

"Hey, Gwen?" she whispered

Gwen turned, confused by Zoey. "Yeah?" she said, hesitantly.

Zoey leaned in towards her. "I just wanted to say that I'm sorry for hitting you earlier. It wasn't right of me and I totally get it if you're mad at me…"

Gwen was more worried about what her and Zoey's team would think of the two of them talking together.

"Ummm" Gwen finally replied "That's ok, Zoey. I'm alright. Thanks, though."

Zoey's face went from surprise to relief in the matter of seconds. She went back to her team, while Gwen stared at her weirdly.

**Confessional (Gwen): **"Ok. First it was Duncan trying to talk to me. Now Zoey. Does anyone understand that we are on separate teams?! I really hope this isn't another Trent situation.

Static.

Duncan and Scott each smashed a box onto the ground at the same time. Duncan eyed it for a few seconds, before noticing something. He reached forward and picked up a red flag. He then ran towards Heather, Jo and Zoey.

He held the flag out. "One of you take it so-"

Heather immediately swiped the flag from the Excon.

"Let's get this over with." she grumbled.

She immediately got on the roller rink and started skating.

Before anyone else could say anything, Owen ran up to his team, breathing heavily and with a blue flag in hand. He held it out.

"I totally got this one, guys." Macarthur said, confidently.

"No." Owen panted. "The first one should go to Jasmine."

The Aussie raised an eyebrow at this. "What? Why me? I'm easily the worst at skating."

"Exactly...no offense. If you start now, then you won't have to worry about it later."

Jasmine stared at him for a few seconds before crossing her arms. "Did Noah tell you that?" she said dully.

Owen stared for a few seconds, trying to think of something to say. "Uhh…."

"Did you tell her she's completely useless in this challenge yet?" Noah called. "And that if we have any chances of winning, she needs to go first?"

Owen sighed. "I wanted to say it in a nicer way." he said to Jasmine, sympathetically.

Jasmine exhaled, but she almost looked hurt this time. She grabbed the flag and tied her skate laces. Heather had already done half of the rink already.

Owen watched as Jasmine struggled to maintain balance. He could hear Noah laughing from behind him.

**Confessional (Owen): **"I usually like it when Noah laughs. But this time...I'm not sure...He's got this really high pitched laugh...But right now it makes him sound like an evil movie guy committing some dastardly plan."

Static

"Now that Heather has completed one lap, the Bobcats take the lead." Chris announced. He looked over at the still struggling Jasmine, who by this point, had made it halfway around the circle, clinging to the wall.

Heather sat back next to Jo and Zoey, clearly not interested in anything happening. Jo looked at her other teammate.

"You got this one, Red?" she asked Zoey

"Ummm...I guess?" Zoey asked, unsure

"Good. And whatever you do, don't let your weird boyfriend being gone from the game distract you, focus on the challenge."

Zoey wasn't having any issues with doing the challenge, but now that Jo had mentioned Mike, she seemed less confident.

Jo didn't seem to notice and slapped the Indie Chick on the back. Zoey stumbled forward from the sudden impact. Then she looked up at the still grinning Jo, unsure how to react.

Owen was still smashing boxes, but he was doing it more aggressively than normal. He was still thinking about Noah and how he was acting. He didn't want to admit it, but the way his friend was acting was bothering him.

_But it's just for the game, right? _ He thought to himself _He's just trying to have a winning edge_. He paused. _Why does a winning edge have to involve insulting people on our team? _

He was so caught up in his thoughts, he didn't see Scott creeping up behind him.

**Confessional (Scott): **"I don't really care about whatever that big guy is going through, but I know exactly how he can help me."

Static.

Scott looked over at the roller rink challenge, more specifically he was looking at Sanders. He grinned, before looking back at Owen. He started walking towards him.

"You know." He started, innocently. "I see that look in your eyes."

Owen didn't say anything and focused on the boxes. Scott continued.

"You don't know how to feel about this...this whole...villain thing."

Owen gave a confused look from this. He stopped what he was doing and turned around.

"What are you talking about? I'm not a villain."

Scott chuckled. "Of course not. But you do hang around some villainy people."

Owen turned to look at Noah. He was still leaning against a nearby wall, not bothering to do anything at all. He looked back at the boxes.

"Noah's not…" he trailed off.

While he was thinking, Scott was placing himself between Owen and Sanders. "Well I mean think about it. He's done nothing but make fun of your teammate, only think about himself, put you in danger…"

Owen was starting to get frustrated. He wanted to deny it, but…

"...I bet he doesn't even care about you anymore." Scott finished.

That was the last straw. In a blind fit of rage, Owen picked up a box and chucked it towards Scott. But Scott saw it coming. Quickly, he moved out of the way. Owen stopped his fit of rage to realize the mistake he made.

The box flew towards the exact spot Scott wanted it to go. Sanders. The cadet was none the wiser. She saw the box from the corner of her eye. But by that point she couldn't stop it. She covered her face, waiting for the impact.

…

…

…

…

Nothing happened.

Sanders opened her eyes. The box had not come in contact with her. She looked up to see what happened. Standing in front of her was the last thing she expected.

There was the box that was supposed to hit her. But something was different. It was now in the hands of someone. In the hands of Duncan.

He looked a little tense after catching it. Was he actually worried she was going to get hurt?

The two locked eyes. It was incredibly awkward for both of them. Everyone else, except for Jasmine, had stopped what they were doing to see. Duncan's team was now giving him suspicious looks.

Finally, thinking quickly, Duncan smashed the box on the ground in an attempt to play it off. The box broke into pieces and, surprisingly, it had a flag in it.

A blue flag. One that belonged to the Shark Cowboys.

Duncan stared at the flag, knowing he just lost his excuse.

Noah walked up to him and casually picked up the flag. He had a smug look on his face.

"Good job, Owen." he called. "Couldn't have done it without you." He walked up to Gwen and handed it to her. She was also stunned by what happened. Duncan realized that all eyes were on him and now he looked even worse because of it. Scott smirked from a distance.

Cody, who was only one not to see what had just happened, searched through the boxes. He was holding them up his ear and shaking them. None of the boxes he picked up seemed to have anything in them. He picked one up, shook it and, disappointingly, put it down.

Something was watching him though, but Cody was unaware.

The boxes behind him moved around a little, inching closer towards him. Cody heard the noise and turned around.

Nothing seemed out of place.

He went back to searching, but was more nervous this time. Whatever was after him was getting closer and closer. It wasn't entirely paying attention and bumped a nearby box.

It hit the ground, but didn't break. Cody turned at the sudden sound. He didn't see anything aside from the fallen box. He went over to it and checked it out. Something didn't feel right though. He looked around to his left, then to his right. He was about to look back, when his shot to the right. A pair of glowing eyes were staring back at him through the boxes. Cody stared back at it in frozen fear. A hand suddenly reached out at him, but he moved just in time. He turned around and ran away from whatever was after him. The eyes disappeared into the darkness of the boxes

Meanwhile, Alejandro had just smashed another box. This time it had a red flag in it. He smiled and picked it up. The pile of boxes were slowly dwindling because most of them were smashed. The awkward moment between Duncan and Sanders had passed, but it was still present among most of the competitors. The latino strood up to his female teammates and smiled. He looked down at Heather, and grinned. Heather didn't change her scowl, but turned away not wanting him to see her blush. Alejandro knew though.

"Alright, Romeo." Interrupted Jo "Give the flag to Redhead and we'll still have a chance."

Alejandro frowned slightly, but handed the flag to Zoey. She took it and headed to the roller rink. Gwen had already finished her lap and Jasmine finally finished hers as well.

Jo glared at Alejandro and was about to say something when she heard something. Alejandro noticed it too. In fact, most of the standing competitors noticed it as well. It sounded like high pitched screaming, accompanied by the sound of boxes being knocked over.

Cody suddenly appeared, out of breath and very pale.

"Chris?" he panted "Did you...put something...in with the boxes?"

Chris looked at Chef, confused. Chef just shrugged.

Chris turned back. "I don't think so. It should just be boxes."

Cody started catching his breath. "Well, there's something in there and it almost got me. I don't know what it is but-"

Cody stopped. All the competitors were not looking at him. They were looking above him. They all had their mouths agape. Zoey finished her lap and stopped at the wall. She looked up to where everyone else was looking. She gasped too.

"Is that…"

Cody reluctantly turned around and looked up. His eyes shrunk in pure terror.

At the top of the small box mountain was a familiar face.

It was Sierra.

But she looked very different. Her recently grown ponytail had lost most of its purple color and instead was replaced with disgusting greasy and white stripes. Her jeans were slightly torn and stained. Her eyes had turned yellow and to top all of it off, she was no longer wearing her usual top. She was wearing…

"Is that my shirt?" Cody said, forgetting to be scared for a second.

Sierra foamed at the mouth, before her eyes landed on Cody.

"So does this mean Sierra's gone feral?" Asked Gwen to Courtney.

Suddenly, Sierra jumped down towards Cody. Quickly, he moved out of the way. But now he was trapped between the feral fan and the boxes. Sierra turned around and creeped towards him.

"Hey!" Called Gwen. Sierra turned to her. Gwen started walking towards them. "Leave him alone!"

Feral Sierra hissed, surprising Gwen. Cody took the opportunity to escape. Quickly, he turned and started climbing the boxes. Sierra turned back, but was too late to catch him. But quickly she started climbing too.

The competitors watched with interest Cody was being chased. Scott was laughing at the whole ordeal. As Cody climbed, he kept knocking boxes over. One of them bounced down the pile, until it smashed on the ground. Scott looked at it.

It had a red flag.

Realizing his opportunity, he ran towards it.

Cody was still trying to avoid Sierra. But eventually the feral beast grabbed his leg. Cody tried to shake it off, but it did nothing. Thinking quickly, he grabbed a nearby box. Sierra was crawling closer to him. The Code-miester held up the box, screamed and smashed the box over Sierra's head. The feral fan was dazed from the impact and started to fall back. Cody noticed something though. A blue flag was in her hair. He reached out to grab it, but it was too much momentum and he lost balance and fell forward onto Sierra.

Scott had just grabbed the flag, when he was crushed by the two falling on him. Both he and Cody had their flags in hands.

Duncan and Owen looked at it, then each other. Both sprinted towards them. Duncan grabbed the red flag first and ran back to his team. Owen grabbed his too.

"Take it!" Duncan yelled, handing it to Jo.

The Jockette wasted no time and got on the rink. Seconds later, Owen handed his flag to Macarthur. The Cadet also didn't waste anymore time and started rolling on the rink.

The race was on.

Macarthur was right behind Jo, when they entered the first turn. Jo tried blocking her from passing, but Macarthur wouldn't let up. She grabbed Jo's shoulder and pulled herself ahead. Jo then grabbed the strap on Macarthur's vest and pulled herself ahead. They were entering the second, and last turn. Jo held the outside track and tried to push Macarthur into the wall. Macarthur was a step ahead though. She put one roller blade onto the wall, using it as part of the roller rink track. Jo tried pushing more, but it wasn't doing anything. Macarthur suddenly pushed against the wall. This forced Jo off of her and out of the way. Jo was pushed too far. Her rollerblade hit the dirt and stopped suddenly, sending her face first into the dirt.

Macarthur surged forward and crossed the finish line.

"...And Macarthur seal's the victory for the Shark Cowboys!" Chris exclaimed.

Macarthur took a victory lap, holding both her hands up in the air, cheering loudly. The rest of her team cheered her on. Even Courtney was impressed.

**Confessional (Courtney): **"Ok, I'll admit it. That cadet did good today. That doesn't mean she'll do good tomorrow. Or the day after that. But she pulled through today...doesn't mean I like her."

Static.

Owen picked up the woozy Cody, while Duncan carried the knocked out Scott by his shoulder.

"Alright" Chris said "Let's get out of here, before Feral Sierra wakes up!"

The rest of the competitors thought that was a good idea and did exactly that.

Later, at the loser cabin, Alejandro was sitting on the steps. He was thinking to himself. But his thoughts were cut off, when someone stepped in front of him. The Latino looked up. It was Heather. Alejandro quickly stood up and was about to say something, but was cut off.

"I know we've had our differences," Heather started. "We don't always get along and maybe we hate each other sometimes. But I know I can count on you when I need it." She paused. Alejandro didn't say anything, but seemed curious. Heather went on. "I talked to a few people already, and they think we should eliminate Duncan. He's not going to be any help if he's distracted by that cadet, so he should be the one who goes. What do you think?"

Alejandro didn't say anything at first. His throat ran dry and he stuttered. "I-I...uh…"

"Give me an answer!" Heather raised her voice.

"...Yes. You can count on me." Alejandro said, abruptly.

And to his surprise Heather gave a smile, and then...kissed him on the cheek. The Latino put his hand to his cheek, clearly caught off guard by it. Heather turned and walked away.

"Don't think that means anything…" She said

Alejandro smiled, but it quickly faded.

_Now what? _He thought to himself.

Later that night, the Vengeful Bobcats were at the elimination ceremony. Chris stood in front of them with a plate of marshmallows.

"I honestly don't have much to say. This was a close game that could've gone either way." he paused. "So I figured we need to up the ante on tonight's elimination ceremony. So I have three surprises for all of you. But first...you must vote."

**Confessional (Duncan): **"I'm still pissed at the rest of my team. But I can only pick one, so I'm gonna pick that weird creepy girl because she's weird and creepy."

**Confessional (Zoey): **"I'm kinda mad at Jo for what she said about Mike. She's also way too intense. Like...more so than usual."

**Confessional (Heather): **"Goodbye...Duncan" She checked off a picture of the excon, with a marker.

**Confessional (Jo): **"Goodbye...Queen-Bee." She checked off a picture of Heather.

**Confessional (Scott): **"It doesn't make sense to expose Duncan, then vote for someone else, but I don't care. I can use it to my advantage whenever I want." He checked off Heather's picture

**Confessional (Alejandro): **He had a picture of Duncan in one hand, and Heather in the other. He looked nervously between the two.

Static.

Chris now held a stack of pictures, looking through them with interest. "Alrighty then, the votes are in. Time for the first surprise." He pointed to the left. All the competitors turned to see the Shark Cowboys walking towards them.

Chris continued "I figured we'd let the Shark Cowboys get a front row seat to tonight's elimination."

Duncan nervously stared at Gwen.

"What's the second surprise, Mclain?" Jo asked

"In a sec, Jo. First we announce who's safe and who isn't." He picked up the first marshmallow. "The following players are safe…

"Alejandro, Scott, Samey, Amy, Dawn…"

"Oh, come on!" Duncan shouted. "She's weird and creepy, why is she allowed to stay?!" He looked at the moonchild, who just smiled innocently at him. Duncan simply rolled his eyes.

Chris went on.

"Zoey, Jo…"

He stopped. The only two competitors left were Duncan and Heather. Chris laughed. "I can't believe it! Two winners of Total Drama are now on the elimination block, all before the merge!" The Excon looked nervously at Heather, then at Zoey. Heather didn't seem as worried though. Macarthur gripped Sanders vest with anticipation from their viewing point.

"With a vote of 4-3 this last marshmallow goes to…

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"...Heather."

The diva smirked as the marshmallow landed in her hand. Duncan, on the other hand, was shocked. He looked around at his team. Zoey looked at him with sympathy. Jo, though, wasn't looking at him. She was thinking of something.

Duncan finally looked at the Shark Cowboys. Gwen and Courtney were looking at him, not happy, not sad. They just stared at him. Finally, the excon sighed in defeat and started walking to the dock. Chris watched as he passed him. He had only walked a few feet past Chris when…

"Oh, Duncan?"

The Ex convict turned. "What?!" He said annoyed.

Chris reached into his pocket and pulled out a marshmallow. "Here's my second surprise." He tossed it to Duncan, who barely caught it.

"What?!" he responded

"Yeah, what?!" Heather stood up.

Even the Cowboys were surprised by this too. Chris spoke up.

"And this is where my third and final surprise comes in…" He raised a hand and pointed a finger at

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The Shark Cowboys.

"Cody is the one going home tonight!"

"Wait, what?" said Gwen

Before she, Cody or anyone else could say anything, Chef picked up Cody and took him to Chris.

"You see, Cody?" Chris explained. "I knew about Sierra since she was eliminated. Apparently her parachute went off too early and she got caught on the plane. She's been with us this entire time. She interfered in the watermelon challenge, the volleyball challenge, the balloon challenge and, as you've just learned, this one."

The competitors were surprised by this.

"She tried to attack me…" Cody said, still processing everything.

Chris nodded. "Exactly. And as much as I want to have a Zeke 2.0 this season, her mom has come in contact with the producers and she doesn't like her daughter being even more a creep than she already is. Now I could just get a team to capture her, but I figured this would be easier."

"So it's the dock of shame for me?" Cody asked.

Chris smirked at him. "Not exactly…"

Cody was now, not on the boat of losers, but in the cannon from Pahkitew Island.

"This is the Launch of Shame." Chris announced. "This should give you a head start from Sierra."

The rest of Cody's team came to see him off. "We'll miss you, Cody." called Gwen.

"This was supposed to be your redemption." Macarthur cried into Sanders' vest. Her partner was patting her on the back, trying to ease her pain.

Cody sighed.

"I gotta admit. I'll miss you, Cody. I was rooting for you." Chris said.

Cody perked up a little. "Really?"

Chris snickered. "No."

He pulled the cord and the cannon shot, sending Cody screaming and flying out into the sky. The Cowboys and Chris watched him until he disappeared. Then Chris turned to the camera.

"The Cowboys have lost another player. How will they adapt? Will they adapt? And is Sierra really gone? Find-"

At that moment, rustling could be heard from a nearby bush. Feral Sierra crawled out of it, sniffing the air. She looked at the cannon, then at Chris, then out into the water. She quickly ran forward and dove into the ocean and started swimming out towards the direction Cody was launched. Chris looked back at the camera.

"Well that answers that. Find out what is waiting for these competitors when we change things up. On the next episode of...Total...Drama...L...egends!"

Zoey sat on the steps of the loser cabin by herself. It was late at night, and she was looking up at the stars.

_No matter what happens _she said to herself _I'm not gonna let you being gone stop me from winning. I'll win for us, Mike. For us. _

Her thoughts were interrupted by the presence of someone sitting next to her.

"I'm...sorry your boyfriend got eliminated." Duncan said, quietly.

That was all he said.

Zoey was caught off guard, but started to tear up. She smiled and hugged Duncan by the arm, still looking up at the stars. Duncan sighed and looked up with her.

Vengeful Bobcats: Amy, Samey, Duncan, Scott, Alejandro, Dawn, Zoey, Jo and Heather

Shark Cowboys: Gwen, Courtney, Macarthur, Sanders, Noah, Owen and Jasmine

Placement:

22nd: Sierra

21st: Lightning

20th: Tyler

19th: Leshawna

18th: Mike

17th: Cody

Votes:

Duncan: Samey, Dawn, Heather, Alejandro

Heather: Amy, Jo, Scott

Jo: Zoey

Dawn: Duncan


	8. Back to the Action

**Remember to leave a review of the chapter once you're done reading it.**

A faraway shot of Kichi Island appeared. As usual, Chris started it up. "Last time on Total Drama Legends. The boys and girls each had a shot to show their stuff in their individual challenges. The guys fought in a race for the flags, and after some leading to a surprise upset by the Shark Cowboys. Like wow that was surprising! The gals competed in roller derby and, as instructed, beat the crap out of each other. Dawn sealed their victory, leading to a tiebreaker between the two teams. The competitors all tried their best, but after a sudden appearance by the newly feral Sierra, the Cowboys won. Even more interestingly though, Duncan showed a new side to him that no one expected. He would've been eliminated had I not changed the elimination and sent Cody on his way, and Sierra out of our hair."

Chris was now sitting in a bus next to Chef, who was driving. "I know most of his fans are mad and I don't blame them. But it was far easier than getting Chef to do it." Chef rolled his eyes. "We're changing things up once more. We're bringing new challenges, new stakes and plenty of action." He chuckled. "Stick around for an all new episode of...Total...Drama...L...egends!"

All of the competitors were in a coach bus. The Bobcats sat on the left side of the seats, and the Cowboys sat on the right. Some seats were turned around so others could talk with one another. Gwen, Courtney, Sanders and Macarthur had done just this.

"...And that's when the producers decided they were getting tired of his underdog story and paired him against the toughest and biggest villain. He didn't stand a chance and the producers knew it. They didn't even bring him in for All-Stars…"

Macarthur had spent the last 30 minutes ranting about how Cody had been robbed in every season he was in. First it was his injury in season 1, then it was not taking part of season 2 and, as previously mentioned, dropping the ball in season 3 and not coming back for All-Stars. Gwen and Courtney looked like they were about to fall asleep. While Sanders, who was sitting next to her partner, had a look on her face that said 'heard this before.' (Macarthur was still talking, by the way.)

"...And that's why this show doesn't appreciate underdogs and anyone that doesn't fit their criteria." The Cadet _finally _finished.

Gwen sighed. "Thank you, Macarthur," she said, exasperated "But, if you don't mind, I think we should really change the subject. I don't think I can handle another conspiracy."

"Not my fault you can't handle the truth." Macarthur retorted

Gwen was about to respond again, but Courtney chimed in. "If there's one thing we should talk about..." She suddenly turned her head, with a suspicious look on her face, at Sanders "...it's your little interaction with a green haired criminal."

Sanders went wide eyed. "W-What are you talking about? I haven't done anything with Duncan."

"I don't recall a name ever being mentioned." Macarthur butt in, as if it were an interrogation.

Sanders annoyingly looked at her. "He's the only one here with green hair. And besides, whose side are you on?"

"Regardless," Courtney cut off "Duncan's game has been severely thrown off, and I think it all centers around you. All I'm saying is that I hope it doesn't affect how _you_ play."

Sanders gulped. She knew she wasn't in control of what Duncan was doing, but she needed to do something about herself, otherwise her team might not trust her anymore.

Noah and Owen were sitting next to each other near the back of the bus. Noah was staring at the seat in front of him. That seat had a sleeping Jasmine in it. She was snoring away by herself, with her head leaning against the window.

Noah grinned. "Alright. The first plan didn't work, time for plan B."

Owen stared blankly forward. Noah turned his gaze towards him. Owen didn't notice the Brainiac now glaring at him. After a few more seconds, Owen finally turned to see his little buddy looking at him. He quickly realized.

"Oh...what's plan B?" he asked

Noah smirked, looking back at the sleeping Aussie. "I'm not sure yet. But if I can make her look like an absolute fool, I can both shatter her confidence and humiliate her in front of the entire team." He put his hands together, like a movie villain.

Owen wasn't sure. "But...why would we do that? Why do we need to humiliate her?"

Noah suddenly turned his head back at O wen, looking stern. "Because she humiliated me when she shoved me into that catapult and sent me flying. I am way too smart to be a laughing stock. She. Will. Pay!"

Owen was surprised by the change in Noah's tone. Owen did agree that it was kinda rude to shove Noah in the catapult, but...what Noah was doing didn't feel right. But he had no clue how to tell him that.

On the other side of the seats sat Duncan. And across from him sat Dawn and Zoey, the latter of whom was quietly meditating.

"So can we talk about the whole...saving the other team's players thing?" Zoey asked

Duncan crossed his arms, and turned away. "I don't get what there's to talk about. What I did didn't mean anything, aside from trying to find that stupid flag."

Zoey shook her hands. "No, no, no, no. Honestly, it was a nice thing. I think if Gwen saw what you did, she might remember that you're a nice person."

Duncan scoffed. "First off, everyone saw what I did. Second, like I said, all I was doing was trying to find that flag."

Zoey leaned back in her chair and smirked. "Right…." She said, smugly.

Duncan realized what she meant and pointed at her. "Get it out of your head. Besides the only way for Gwen to notice me doing something nice, is to do something nice...to _her_."

Zoey kept smirking, clearly having fun with this. "Are you sure Gwen is the one we're still trying to impress?"

Duncan looked at Zoey, trying to hold back his rage. He moved face to face with her. "Listen. I gave you something to do. You said you'd help me. And you're going to help me with this one thing. Nothing else. I made it crystal clear that we're trying to-"

"May I interject?"

Duncan looked to his side and nearly had a heart attack. Dawn suddenly appeared three inches from Duncan's face. He flew back into his chair, clutching his chest and breathing heavily."

"What's really bothering you is-" Dawn didn't get a chance to finish.

"I don't care what you think I should do! I know what I need to do. Get away from you, you weird, freaky...thing. And stay out of my head."

With that, the Ex-con walked away towards the end of the bus. Zoey and Dawn looked at eachother, baffled by what just happened.

**Confessional (Bus) (Duncan): **He was clutching his head, like he was having an anyerism. "I...never thought I would say this but...I'm actually starting to miss Harold. Maybe even Izzy a little."

Static

Jo clasped her finger together, while in her seat. She seemed to be staring out into nothing. Alejandro and Scott, who were sitting across from her, looked at the Jockette. Amy was sitting next to Jo. Alejandro looked noticeably nervous, while Scott just looked bored.

"Last night," Jo said, coldly "Chris said only three people voted for Heather, and last I checked, there were four people who were supposed to vote for that black haired dumpster fire." Her eyes darted to Amy, then to Alejandro and Scott. "So my question is," she raised her voice. "Which one of you didn't vote with the rest of us?"

Scott and Alejandro looked at each other, while Amy eyed both of them.

"I can tell you it wasn't me," Scott finally said.

"And why should we believe you?" Alejandro said, suspiciously. Maybe a little suspiciously.

Scott leaned back in his seat. "If I wanted to turn on any of you, I wouldn't do it now, it's too early."

Alejandro raised an eyebrow. "So are you saying you'll betray us at some point."

Scott cackled and grinned, mischievously. Alejandro was slightly caught off guard by this.

"I know Scott well enough," Jo interjected "He's right. It's too early." Scott gave a thumbs up. Then Jo turned her gaze towards the Latino.

"You, on the other hand." Alejandro became noticeably nervous. "You, I don't trust."

"Wha- me?" Alejandro said, "I don't know what you're talking about."

"I have a feeling you do. You and Heather have a complicated relationship. But even I can tell you two still have feelings for each other. How do I know you weren't the one who didn't vote for her?"

"And it definitely wasn't me." Amy butted in. No one seemed to notice or care.

"I-I...Chris probably wanted to make it more dramatic by making us think Duncan was going home. You know how he likes to mess with us." Alejandro panicked as he spoke.

Jo eyed him for a few moments. Alejandro wasn't sure if the Jockette believed him. Then, Jo eased up and whispered. "If I find out it was you. You. Are. Done."

Alejandro gulped, but sighed in relief.

**Confessional (Bus) (Scott): **"It's so obvious he's lying. But I don't really care. If Alejandro wants to dig his own grave, I say let him."

**Confessional (Bus) (Alejandro): **"Ok I admit it. I didn't vote for Heather. We have these phases where we keep hating each other." He paused. "And right now, I...am not in that phase."

Static

Chris walked out from a curtain and faced the competitors. "Attention everyone!" He called.

The competitors from both teams turned their heads to the host. Alejandro was just exiting the confessional/bathroom. He stopped mid walk and looked at Chris.

"We have entered the next stage of the competition. We've been on a plane, we went back to camp, which can only mean..." Chef hit the brakes of the bus and it stopped. Chris stepped to the side and pointed to the aisle way leading to the door. The competitors got up and walked out of the bus.

They eyed their new surroundings as Chris stepped in front of them.

"Welcome back to...Total...Drama...Action!"

The competitors stood in front of several gray warehouses on top of a black asphalt top. Macarthur was noticeably awestruck.

Chef suddenly appeared in a golf cart, with a coach carrying it from behind.

"Get on or get left behind!" He called aggressively.

Soon every competitor was sitting in a chair of the coach. Chris started his tour. "As most of you already know, this used to be a movie set, which has since been abandoned" He looked around. "Well...more so now, than when it was first abandoned." Chef continued, driving through several movie sets, while Chris continued the tour. "This part of the competition will consist of movie based challenges. So I hope you guys are camera ready for all of this." He chuckled, while most of the competitors rolled their eyes.

They passed a large tented area that looked like a small house. "We've got the craft services tent, where you can eat whatever Chef cooks up."

They passed what looked like a large award ceremony stadium. There were some bleachers and a large podium next to it. There were also two golden statues that looked like Chris McLean. But the one on the left had an arm missing and a spray painted mustache on his face. Meanwhile the one on the right had a section of its head missing. The competitors eyed it in confusion. "And here is the elimination ceremony area. Here is where you will vote out your fellow teammates off the team and out of the game. Now-"

"Uh, Chris?" Zoey spoke up "What happened...to you?" She pointed at the statues.

Chris looked at the golden statues and sighed. "Well this is what happens when you re-abandon a place like this. We're gonna get them repaired, so don't worry."

"Yes." Noah snarked "Because everyone of us was worried about your self-image."

Most of the competitors chuckled at this, except Jasmine, who just rolled her eyes.

"And here is our final stop."

Chef pulled up to two grey trailers. One had an orange awning, while the other had a green one. "This will be where you sleep, chit chat or whatever. And this time, unlike the World Tour and Island sections, you will not be separated by teams." He pointed to the trailer with the orange awning. "That one will be for all the girls." Then he pointed at the green one. "And that's for the guys." He then pointed in a different direction. "And over there is the make up building, also known...as the confessional.

The confessional was less disgusting than the outhouse. It had a rack of costumes in the back, as well as some helmets and hats on a few shelves. In the front was a table, with a scattered mess of makeup tools.

**Confessional (Gwen): **"This does not bring back good memories for me. First Trent, then my whole team finding out about it and then me being the first one eliminated from my team."

**Confessional (Zoey): **"I gotta say, these are easily the best confessionals this season. I mean the only other option has been a bathroom, so I guess it's not much of a competition."

**Confessional (Macarthur): **She is wide eyed, with her mouth in a wide smile. She is absolutely ecstatic to be in the confessional. She squeals in delight.

Static

"Alright" announced Chris "Before I leave and let you everyone unpack, I need to ask a question." He smirked and paused for dramatic effect. "Does anyone have the Chris McLean invincibility statue?"

There was a long pause. Everyone looked around at each other, trying to see if anyone would say anything or give a clue. Jo's looked around, squinting at everyone. Scott fake coughed, like he was teasing the competitors. He cackled as the competitors shot their heads in his direction.

After a few moments, Chris clapped his hands together.

"Alrighty then, keeping it quiet, I like it." He walked to the golf cart and got on it. "Everyone get your stuff unpacked, choose a bunk mate and meet at the mess hall in an hour. The challenge starts today." And with that, Chef hit the gas and the two drove away.

The guys entered their trailer and realized something. There were only five guys left and it was assumed no one knew how many guys would be left by the time the action portion started because there were eight beds, four on one side and four on the other. There was also a sink and a small lounge area for competitors to eat or just chat.

"So everyone gets a bed to themselves, except for two who have to bunk..." Noah pointed out. He sat in the bed across from him and placed his bag next to it. He reached in his bag and pulled out a book and sat back in his bed. "So, you guys have fun with all that."

Alejandro, Scott, Duncan and Owen all looked at each other with confused looks. Scott grinned maliciously.

"Here Duncan. Since you like helping the other team so much, why don't you bunk with the Cowboy?"

Scott walked off, pulling himself up to one of the top bunks. Alejandro smiled and gave a sarcastic pat on Duncan's back and sat in the bed next to the Farmer boy. Duncan gave an annoyed look at his two teammates, then he turned to Owen. The Fart Machine gave an innocent expression. As annoyed as Duncan was, he knew Owen since Season 1. Out of all the guys left, Duncan hated him the least. The Ex-Con sighed, then pointed a finger in his bunkmate's face. "If you're gonna fart," he then pointed in Alejandro and Scott's direction, "do it in their direction." Without another word, he walked up his bunk and pulled up to the top of it. Owen didn't know how to feel, but was glad Duncan at least accepted him. He walked up to the bottom of the bunk and lay down.

The girls were all unpacking their bags. Samey had just been getting her clothes out her bag, when she felt a finger touch her on the shoulder. She turned around and came face to face with…

Jasmine.

The Aussie was smiling to finally be reunited with her friend. Samey returned the smile and immediately gave Jasmine a hug. The tall Australian was caught off guard by the force of the hug, but returned it nonetheless.

"It's so good to see you again, Jasmine." The twin smiled

"You too, Sammy."

The nice twin finally released her hug and stepped back. Jasmine looked at the other girls and noticed them all staring at the two of them. She frowned, realizing her possible situation. She looked back at Samey.

"Sam, I know you want to talk and so do I, but I think it's more important that we try to focus on the challenges. So I can't really talk to you right now." Samey gave a downcast expression. Jasmine noticed this and gave a sympathetic hand on her friend's shoulder and smiled. Samey looked up, and returned the smile.

"Now that you two have worked your stuff out, we've got bigger issues." The two friends turned to look at Jo. "Chris McCheapskate only left us with eight beds. There's eleven of us here."

The rest of the female competitors looked around. Jo was right. It was a fairly cramped trailer with all of them in it.

"And just where is he expecting the rest of you to sleep?" Heather added. Everyone looked at her. The Diva was noticeably sitting in a top bunk, looking down at them. She already had her bag on the bed too.

Jo rolled her eyes and was about to say something, until…

"You guys aren't thinking like legends." Macarthur jumped down from her bunk and walked towards the end of the trailer where the pull out drawer was.

"What are you doing?" asked Sanders

"Just showing why I'm the wildcard…" Macarthur walked up to where the end drawer was and lifted up the bench. She grinned and pulled out what was inside. "An air mattress! Bada boom!" She plopped it on the floor and rolled it out.

"It looks like it can fit two people." Sanders noted.

"So two people are gonna have to sleep together." Jo added

Macarthur looked up, as she was setting up the mattress. "Oh me and my partner will share the mattress. Not the first time we've done it before."

The rest of the competitors all turned to look at Sanders. The cadet was gobsmacked by what Macarthur just said. She was even more embarrassed when she noticed that all eyes were on her. She pinched her nose in frustration.

"S-she means we've pulled a few all-nighters and had to share a bed. As work partners."

No one said anything, and after a few seconds, headed back to their beds. Sanders looks at her partner, still embarrassed.

"Did you _have_ to phrase it like that?"

Macarthur was blowing air into the mattress, but stopped and looked up. "Like what?"

Sanders just sighed.

**Confessional (Sanders): **"Don't get me wrong, I'm having fun, but Macarthur has been acting...weirder than usual."

Static

It was later that same day. All the competitors stood in their groups, with Chris standing in between both. He was wearing his usual getup, but with a beret and a red scarf.

"Welcome, competitors to your first challenge in the action stage." Chris announced.

He was standing in front of a fake grass hill. He pointed to the top of it.

"That is where the challenge will happen."

The competitors started walking forward, but Chris held up a hand to stop them.

"But we're gonna do this a little differently. This challenge is all about creating a scene." He walked in front of the competitors like a drill sergeant. "When we act, we need certain things to make our scenes work. We need actors, camera workers, script makers and, of course, the director." He stopped and turned to face the competitors. "So it's up to you to create a scene that will blow us all away." He clapped his hands together. "So, Shark Cowboys and Vengeful Bobcats, I will let you guys decide who will star in your films." He pointed to the Cowboys. "Cowboys, you choose first."

Courtney smirked and was about to take a step forward. "Obviously, that job goes to-"

"I'll do it." Jasmine stepped forward, in front of the CIT.

Courtney looked at her, shocked. "What?!"

**Confessional (Jasmine): **"After my pitiful performance in the roller derby challenge, I really want to make it up to my team." She paused and thought to herself. "I'll admit I'm not much of an actor, but if it's for the challenge, I'll do my best." She put her fists to her hips and gave a confident nod.

Static

Most of Jasmine's teammates weren't sure how to feel about Jasmine volunteering, except for Courtney. She was pissed.

Chris turned to the Bobcats. "You guys choose next."

The Vengeful Bobcats looked at one another, unsure of who to pick. Scott turned his attention to Duncan. He surprised the Ex-con by giving him a hard pat on the back.

"So...Duncan. Do you want to redeem yourself to the team?" Duncan didn't respond. "Why don't you volunteer and...try to make us forget what happened last night?" He finished with a devilish smirk.

Duncan looked annoyed at the Farm boy, but sighed. "Fine." He stepped forward. "I'll do it."

Chris clapped his hand together again. "Excellent. But you're gonna need a second person for this scene."

Jo rolled her eyes. "Fine, we'll also pick-"

Chris wagged his finger. "Oh, no no no. I didn't say you'd be getting to _pick_ the second person. The Shark Cowboys will be deciding for you."

The Bobcats went wide eyed at this.

"What?" Heather shrieked. "How is that fair?"

"I figured you'd be mad," Chris said "But I also figured after saving one of you from being eliminated in the last elimination ceremony, I knew this would be fair. I mean...if you don't want to do it, we can always end the challenge here and send one of you home right now."

The Bobcats were annoyed, but didn't say anything.

The Shark Cowboys huddled together. After a few seconds, they separated and faced the other team. Most of them had smirks on their faces.

Courtney started "We pick-"

Macarthur cut her off. "We pick the Queen of Divas herself, Heather!" Macarthur didn't see Courtney looking annoyed at being interrupted.

"Excellent choice." Chris said, turning to the Bobcats. Heather glared at the other team, then to Duncan. Chris went on.

"Bobcats, your scene will be a kids adventure film. You've got the hero, that's you Heather, and the funny sidekick, Duncan." Duncan groaned at the thought of having to do that. "The basic idea is that the two of you are going to start your big adventure. You can have a big heroic speech, a funny joke from the side kick, whatever you want. Well, whatever your teammates pick for you." He turned to the Cowboys and pointed to Jasmine. "Jazz. You will be performing in a one person scene. It will be a war movie, and you are making a big speech about never giving up, or something like that, to your troops." Jasmine grinned at this, while Courtney glared, clearly jealous of not getting the part. Chef walked up, with two buckets. "As for the rest of you, line up. These buckets will determine what your roles will be. We have the script writers, the camera crew and the director." The Vengeful Bobcats went first. The remaining seven competitors reached into the bucket and each pulled out a tile. Alejandro looked at his tile. It had a picture of a camera on it.

"I guess I'm running the camera, then." He said, dully.

"Same here." Amy added

Dawn walked up to the two and held out her tile with a picture of a camera on it.

"I'm working the script, it looks like." Zoey said, holding up a tile with a drawing of paper on it.

Jo and Scott also held up their tiles, showing they had the same.

Jo realized something. "So if we got all our roles then that means the director is…"

She turned. Everyone else did the same.

Samey was holding her tile. It had a megaphone on it. She didn't know how to feel about it, and felt awkward with all the eyes on her. She smiled nervously

**Confessional (Samey): **"I'm not good with telling people what to do. Unless it's Amy. And if she actually listens to me...which is never."

Static

The Cowboys followed suit with choosing their tiles.

Gwen looked at her tile and then Owen's. "Looks like we're writing the script."

Owen smiled at this. "Awesome." He held up his hand for a high five, which Gwen happily returned. Sanders walked up to them, with her tile.

"Looks like I'm joining you guys." She said. Owen gave a thumbs up, while Gwen smiled.

Courtney was looking at her tile. Macarthur walked up behind her, looked at her tile and put an arm around her teammate's shoulder.

"Oh yeah. You and I are workin' the cameras." She shook the CIT around a little. Maybe a little harder than she meant to. Courtney swayed, trying to keep her composure.

Jasmine smiled at her teammate's. But it turned to shock and realization after a moment. "If they have all their roles, that means…"

"Now you've got it."

The rest of her team turned to see who the director was.

Noah.

He held his megaphone tile, with a smug smirk on his face. Jasmine now didn't feel as confident as she did before.

"This is gonna be fun." The brainiac said, ominously. Jasmine gulped.

**Confessional (Jasmine): **"Of all the people who could've been in charge of my scene, it had to be that jerk of a weasel." She crossed her arms, annoyed. "He's gonna try to ruin it for me, I just know it."

**Confessional (Owen): **"My buddy is smart enough to direct a film. I just hope his whole revenge plot on Jasmine won't let it affect the challenge." He gave a long sigh and gave a fake smile, knowing exactly what was going to happen.

Static

Chris raised his hand to get everyone's attention. They looked. "The challenge is gonna work like this. The script writers have their ideas set, so it's a matter of what they put into the script. It should only be about a page long." He pointed up. "Currently it's noon. The official scene challenge begins exactly 24 hours from now. In that time, the script writers have to make their script and the actors have to memorize them. From there, it's up for the actors, the director and the camera crew to make a masterpiece...or something close to it, I don't know. So good luck to everyone. Y'all are gonna need it." With that, Chris and Chef left, leaving the competitors to themselves.

"Well," Duncan finally said "If I have to read my lines overnight, I'm gonna take a nap." He put both his hands behind his head and walked away. "Not that I care what any of you think." Most of the competitors glared or rolled their eyes at this.

Heather quickly followed suit, choosing not to say anything. Jo narrowed her eyes on Heather, but then they landed on Dawn, who was standing next to her. The Jockette cast a small smirk.

Owen, Gwen and Sanders were all sitting at the mess hall area, each with a piece of paper and pencil in hand.

"So does anyone have any ideas?" Sanders asked

"What if we used the speech they did in Braveheart?" Owen asked. "You know, like" He cleared his throat. "They may take our fries…" He said the speech in a terrible scottish accent. "But they'll never take our $2.99 all you can eat buffets." He raised a fist in the air for emphasis on the last line. Gwen chuckled, while Sanders groaned.

"That's not the line." she mumbled

"Anyways," Gwen laughed, "I don't think Chris wants us to use lines from already existing movies. He would want us to create our own script." Owen sat down, slightly embarrassed. Gwen looked at her blank piece of paper and started writing

"Chris never specified what war it had to be. Maybe it could be some war in Australia, since Jasmine's the one acting."

Sanders pointed. "That's not a bad idea. And since the war would be made up, we can pretty much do whatever we want."

Owen smirked. "We could make Jasmine lead an army of koalas and kangaroos. That would be awesome." Sanders and Gwen looked up at the Big Guy, with skeptical looks. Owen didn't understand why they were looking at him. "What?"

Sanders sighed and pinched her nose. "That is incredibly offensive towards Australians." She looked at her notes. "I don't think Chris wants to get a complaint about how we did something offensive." She paused. "I am curious what the Bobcats are doing though. Especially with Duncan doing the acting." She said this aloud, which she probably didn't mean to. She looked up and noticed the awkward expression on Gwen's face. Sanders realized what she just said. "Oh...sorry, I didn't mean to bring..._him_ up."

Gwen sighed. "It's alright. I'm over that whole thing. I just hope he gets over it too." There was an awkward silence. Gwen spoke up again. "Let's just focus on the script and not worry about anything else, okay?"

Sanders nodded, and both she and Gwen started throwing out ideas. Owen wasn't concentrating though. He looked at Sanders and thought about what she said and how she mentioned Duncan. Then he remembered the balloon challenge.

On the Vengeful Bobcats side, the mood was a little different. Zoey was throwing out ideas as quickly as she could. She was enthralled by the idea she was given.

**Confessional (Zoey): **"I didn't have a lot of friends, growing up. But I always had my movies to watch. Pirates. Princesses. Parties. It was so much fun. I watch Pirate Princess 3 religiously." She paused, realizing what she just said. "I-I mean _used to_...watch them." She gave the camera an awkward look.

Static

Jo and Scott nodded in agreement at what she was saying, but weren't actually listening to any of her ideas. The Jockette leaned towards Scott and whispered to him.

"I don't trust Alejandro."

Scott snickered. "You didn't give him a nickname this time, this must be serious."

"Shut it, Dirt Boy." She looked back up at Zoey, who hadn't stopped rambling. "I don't think he voted with us last night."

"Oh, he definitely didn't."

Jo raised an eyebrow. "And you didn't say anything about it?"

"I thought it was obvious." Scott argued, a little louder than he meant to.

"Uh, guys?"

Jo and Scott stopped whispering when they realized Zoey was looking at both of them. She had a curious expression. "Do...you have any ideas?"

The two alliance members didn't say anything at first. Finally, Jo spoke.

"Look, Red. I think we've got a good chance of making this with you writing the script."

"Yeah" added Scott "You give off this kid feeling that none of us have."

Zoey smiled, and opened her mouth to say 'thanks' but stopped, not sure if she was just insulted or not.

A few hours had passed by. Gwen, Sanders and Owen were all looking at the piece of paper in Gwen's hand. All three were looking it over.

"I think we got our script." Smiled Gwen

"Yeah" Owen said, high-fiving Sanders

Suddenly the paper was snatched out of the Goth's hand. They all looked up. Noah held the paper and quickly read it over. He gave a few small nods. "Gotta admit. This isn't bad. Not bad at all." He held the paper out for the now annoyed Gwen to take back. "Hopefully, Jasmine won't screw it up."

"She's not going to," snapped Gwen, and she stood up and pointed at him. "I just hope you know what you're doing too."

Noah scoffed. "Of course I know what I'm going to do. I'm not a newbie..." He paused for effect. "...unlike Jasmine."

Gwen glared at the Brainiac, but her thoughts were different. Jasmine hadn't really proved herself in any challenge. She did poorly in the roller derby challenge and was partly responsible for causing their team to lose in the watermelon challenge. Maybe Noah had a point. Speaking of, The Brainiac had turned and started walking away. He knew exactly what Gwen was thinking. The first stages of his plan were in effect. Sanders and Owen looked at each other, unsure how to feel about what happened. Especially Owen.

Duncan had been napping on his bunk. He had been snoring and sleeping peacefully, until a rolled up piece of paper hit in the face. He woke up with a startle. His head darted around. The paper was thrown onto his lap. He turned to see who had done it.

"Our loser teammates finished the script," Heather grumbled "Get off your butt and read it."

Duncan, still surprised by the wake-up call, picked up the paper and looked it over. He looked back at Heather, who was leaving. "Woah, woah, woah." he said, getting down from his bed. "Don't you want to run lines or something?"

Heather stopped and turned to the Ex-Con. Duncan could only read Heather's expression as a mixture of pissed off and complete disinterest. "I'll have my lines memorized, so you better do the same, Cop Lover."

Duncan glared at the Diva as she walked out, he was especially pissed at the 'Cop lover' line.

**Confessional (Duncan): **"Why does everyone think something's going on between me and that cadet? Nothing is going on." He crossed his arms, and didn't say anything. He just darted his eyes from left to right. He looked back at the camera. "Nothing!"

Static

Jasmine held the script up to her face, reading it over. Gwen had just given it to her and was waiting for her reaction. The tall Australian put the paper down and smiled.

"Great." She said, excitedly. "I'll have my lines memorized by tomorrow. Promise."

Gwen returned the smile, but it wasn't as confident. She was still thinking about what Noah had said.

"You sure?" she asked

Jasmine gave a confident nod. "I'll prove myself to you guys. I know I haven't had a good track record so far, but that is gonna change."

Gwen was about to say something, but decided not to. Jasmine was too determined to be brought down.

**Confessional (Gwen): **"I like Jasmine, but she hasn't really stood out in any of the challenges." She sighed, annoyed. "I can't believe I actually listened to Noah."

Static

It was late at night. Heather was just turning in for the night. She shut her trailer door. Everyone else had already finished for the night. Jasmine had spent the day memorizing her lines, and went to bed confident. Heather had also spent the day, reading her lines. She did so without Duncan, constantly refusing to work with him.

Speaking of, the Ex-Con was the only one who hadn't gone to bed. He was sitting outside both of the trailers, on a picnic table, looking over the piece of paper. He knew his team didn't entirely trust him, so decided to spend some extra time looking over his lines. He was actually starting to get sleepy. He probably would've called it a night but…

"Hello."

Duncan groggily looked up to the voice, and went wide eyed when he saw who it was.

"You, again?" He groaned.

It was Sanders. The cadet walked up to Duncan and stood in front of him. At this point, the Ex-Con was too tired to tell her to get out of his face. "What do you want?"

"You need help going over your lines?" Came the sudden reply.

Duncan's mouth went agape when he heard this. "W-Wha?"

"I figured you wanted to go over the lines with someone. Well. someone who isn't Heather. I watched the series and I know she's-"

"Why would you want to help me?" Duncan cut off

Sanders responded with a shrug. "I don't know. I figured I owed you one after saving me from the box."

Duncan didn't respond at first. He looked like he was contemplating his next choice of words. Finally, he sighed. "When is this stupid thing between you and me gonna stop?"

"What stupid thing?"

Duncan pointed his finger at the cadet "You, helping me. We're on opposite teams, and yet, here you are talking to me as if we're buddy buds. I don't like cops. Get that through your head."

Sanders didn't break face, which surprised Duncan. She gave a confident grin. "First off, the challenge doesn't start until tomorrow, so whatever happens tonight, doesn't matter." She pointed at Duncan, the same way he had done. "Second, you say I shouldn't talk with you despite being on different teams," she paused for dramatic effect. "Yet, _you _were the one who started this whole thing when you warned me about that volleyball. _You _were the one who let me pop your teammate's balloons _and_, again, you saved me from getting hit by a box. You didn't have to do any of that, but you did. I was returning the favor to be nice." She turned and started walking away. "I know you hate to admit it, but there is something going on." She turned around again, still grinning. "So you can either accept my help, or I can pester you about this whole thing for the rest of the night."

Duncan was utterly shocked by what was just said to him. _No one_ had called him out like that. She was not like any girl Duncan had met. She was straight forward, and read him like a book. And the strangest part of it all was that a small part of Duncan kinda liked it.

He shook his head after that last thought. He looked at the ground almost pretending Sanders wasn't there. But she was, and Duncan couldn't ignore it. He looked back up and held out the script.

"I thought your partner was supposed to be the bad cop." He said, mentally exhausted.

Sanders smiled and took the paper from him. "When you hang around a partner like mine, you learn a few things." She sat next to Duncan on the picnic table and started reading the lines.

The next day, all the competitors were walking up the tall grass hill, to the official challenge location. Jasmine was looking over her script, making sure she was completely ready. Heather had her script in hand, but hadn't bothered to look it over while going up the hill. Jo watched her, like she had a plan. Amy walked next to her.

**Confessional (Amy): **"I don't know what Jo has in mind, but I have to make sure she thinks I'm still on her side. Alejandro is one foot in the grave, and I think she knows where Scott's loyalty is as truthful as a...lying...snake? I don't know, I don't like metaphors...or similes?"

Static

Duncan trailed behind the rest of his team. He hadn't bothered to look over his script again. The read through from last night had helped him. It didn't last too long and Duncan and Sanders only had to spend a good thirty minutes practicing.

Speaking of, he was staring at her and Macarthur.

His mind started to wonder and he didn't notice who was behind him. Two hands clasped him on the shoulders. The Ex-Con jumped in surprise. He quickly turned around to see…

Scott, laughing at him.

"What's a matter, Duncan? Something on your mind?"

Duncan's expression changed from surprise to anger. "Yeah. Something is on my mind. What your face will look like when I dislocate your jaw."

Scott held up his hands. "Easy. Just getting you psyched up is all. You looked tense." He gave a devilish smile. "You ready for today's challenge?"

Duncan didn't say anything at first. He looked uncomfortable and Scott knew that. Uncharacteristically he turned away. "Yeah." He said in a somber voice. "Yeah, I'm ready." He walked ahead, at a slightly faster pace. Scott watched with interest.

**Confessional (Scott): **The farm boy had the smuggest of smug grins on his face. He waited a few seconds before saying his piece. "Someone's hiding something."

Static.

Finally, all the competitors were at the top. Chris stood in front of two small movie sets. The one on his left had a bleak looking background, with dark clouds, and an ocean. The floor part of the set had a small hill of sand and painted on water. The set on Chris' right looked completely different, it had a backdrop of city buildings and the floor looked like a simple blacktop.

"Alright competitors, you know your roles and what you have to do. Make a scene, follow the script and…" He raised his arms in the air and shook his hands. "...give us some razzle dazzle." Quickly he put his hands back down. "Heather, Duncan and Jasmine, head to the back of your sets. You'll find your...costumes." He gave a little snicker, notably staring at Duncan. The Ex-Con looked confused. "Directors and camera crew, prepare yourselves in the meantime."

Noah sat confidently in his director's chair, watching Courtney try to direct Macarthur into how to work the camera. It was a strenuous task as Macarthur was treating her expensive piece of equipment like a toy and swiveling it all around.

"Make you sure you zoom out as much as you can, " He smirked. "The audience doesn't want to see half of that giant." He said that last part louder so Jasmine could hear.

The Aussie groaned as she walked behind the set.

Owen walked up to the director. "Hey, buddy. I know you don't like Jasmine and all, but...you're not gonna sabotage the challenge at her expense right."

Noah turned and smiled at his teammate. "Don't worry, Owen. We're gonna make sure that everything...is..._perfect_." His last word made Owen seem unsure of what Noah was actually going to do.

Samey was going over her plans with the camera crew.  
"Alejandro, you should focus on Heather." Alejandro smiled at this thought. The Nice Twin then turned to Dawn. "That leaves you, Dawn, to focus on Duncan." She finally turned to her sister. "We'll use you for any extra shots that involve the two of them in one scene."

"Excuse me?" Amy scoffed.

Samey looked up dully, knowing exactly what she was gonna hear.

"You can at least refer to me by name...Lame-y. You need someone with my eye to make us win this scene challenge. With you as a director, it's going to be a complete failure."

Samey wasn't paying attention to what Amy was saying though. She was trying to hold in a laugh, looking past her sister. Amy was annoyed at being laughed at, but when she realized her sister was looking past her, she turned. She immediately started to laugh at what she saw.

Heather and Duncan had just walked out from the back, with their costumes. Heather was wearing a simple outfit. Blue jeans, a white undershirt and a dark green vest. Duncan, on the other hand, was wearing blue cargo pants, a white tank top and, most notably, an afro wig and a fake pair of nerdy glasses. He looked annoyed at the snickering faces, but didn't say anything. Even Chris and Chef were laughing. Duncan just sighed in annoyance.

Amy and Samey were both still laughing, until they looked at each other. At the moment their eyes crossed, both stopped laughing and quickly turned away.

On the Shark Cowboys side, Noah was directing Courtney and Macarthur on where to move the camera. There was a door slam from behind the set. All the competitors turned their heads. Jasmine walked out to them. She wasn't wearing her usual get up though. Instead, she was wearing an all camo outfit, including a long sleeve camo shirt, long camo pants and combat boots. She smiled, feeling proud in her outfit.

Macarthur gave a thumbs up, from behind her camera. "Nice."

Jasmine gave a thankful nod.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah." Noah said quickly, not even bothering to look up from the script. "You look fine. Let's get everything in place, people."

Jasmine glared, but confidently walked up to the set. She watched as everyone moved around, getting into place. Noah took his seat. Jasmine stood in the middle of the set, took a deep breath and gave a stern look.

"When I look out at all of you, I see-"

"Hey, Einstein."

Jasmine stopped her monologue. She looked back down at Noah, glaring at him. "What? I can't have already messed up. Are you trying to make me fail?"

Noah looked up at the Aussie, blank faced. "I didn't say 'action.' You do know actor's start their scene when the director says 'action?' he said dully. Jasmine froze, slightly annoyed but also slightly embarrassed when she saw the rest of her team staring at her. She turned around, and got back in place. She didn't see Noah giving a small smirk.

Back on the Bobcats side, most of the competitors were all set up. Dawn, Alejandro and Amy were in place, while Scott, Jo and Zoey stood to the side. Samey walked up to the director's chair and sat in it. Heather and Duncan stood in the middle of the set, waiting for their cue.

Nothing happened for a few seconds. Then a few more passed. Finally, the rest of the competitors turned their heads towards the director. Samey seemed to be staring into nothing. She didn't notice the rest of her team staring at her, until after a few seconds. She finally realized what she had to do.

"Oh, right." She stammered. "Action!" Amy snickered to herself.

Duncan turned to his co-star and the scene began. "Well, Ruby. The only way to get into to rescue the orphans is if we go through the forest." While he didn't sound bored, Duncan was only using his real voice.

Heather gave a fake smile. "That's right, Gummy. Are you ready?"

'Gummy' looked at the forest and acted like he was scared. "Well don't they call that the…" he gulped. "Forest of demise."

"Uh...cut?" called Samey

Heather and Duncan turned. "Oh, come on." Moaned Heather "We were doing fine...well _I_ was, anyway." Duncan rolled his eyes.

Samey looked at the two, a little nervous over what she would say.

**Confessional (Samey): **"As the director, it's my job to step up and say what needs to be said." She closed her eyes. "I just have to picture everyone as Amy and I should do fine."

Static

The Nice Twin cleared her throat. "Uh...yeah that was good...but I think in order to make it better..." She turned to the Ex-Con. "Duncan, I think your character should have a more...cartoony voice. It matches with the rest of the script.

Heather and most of the other competitors snickered at this, while Duncan just sighed. "Whatever." He cleared his throat. "_How about now?_" He made his voice more high pitched and even held out his arms as if he was presenting something.

Samey nodded. "I think that should work. Let's go again. Action!"

Noah had just called 'action' and Jasmine began her monologue. She closed her eyes, before opening them again, giving a stern look to an invisible group of soldiers.

"When I look out at all of you, I see fire in your eyes and metal in your teeth…"

"Cut."

Jasmine blinked and looked down at the director. "What do you mean 'cut?' I was doing perfectly fine."

Noah ignored the Aussie's complaint and instead turned to the camera crew.. "Hey Courtney, I think we should start with a shot from the feet and then rise up, as she's speaking. What do you think?"

Courtney just nodded.

"Just make sure you don't go too slow because she's...ya know...so tall."

Jasmine winced at the remark. Noah leaned back in his chair and looked at the lone actress. He gave a small smirk.

"Let's try that again." He said, as slyly as he could.

"But the only way for us to get through this...is if we do it together. It's like my father said...you can't...be...one..without...ugh. Line!"

Duncan groaned. "You've got to be kidding me."

Samey looked at the script from her chair. "The line is…'It's like my father said…"

While she read the script, Jo had walked up to Amy. "Hey, I wanted to ask something about your sister."

Amy turned and grinned. "Oh well there isn't much to say about her. Other than the fact that she an ugly pig who-"

"You made your sister sound like the meanest person ever. Yet ever since this game started, she's done nothing remotely villainy." She could see the surprised and nervous look on Amy's face. "So what I wanna know is, did you lie to me to get in the alliance?"

Amy stammered, knowing she was about to be found out. Jo would've said something more when…

"Hey, Alejandro!" Heather called. "Make sure you get my good side."

Jo and Amy turned to the Diva, then to Alejandro, who had his camera completely on Heather. He smiled. "That's easy because you have no bad side, _chica_." Heather smirked at this.

Jo glared at the two, which Amy noticed. Quickly, she came up with a plan. "Ok, yes. I lied to get in with you guys. But I only did it to get rid of some important people. Alejandro and Heather can be a dangerous force and if they were eliminated that would give you and me a better chance. I want to go to the finale with you, Jo. Honest."

Jo didn't say anything at first, but Amy could see the wheels turning in her head. Finally, the Jockette turned and faced the Twin. She pointed at her. "I should rat you out right now." She paused, making Amy unsure of what she was going to say. "But you make a good point." Amy smiled at this, but it was silenced by Jo stepping forward. "But you're not redeemed. You better make it up to me or you're finished." She glared at the Twin, who just nodded repeatedly. The Jockette turned and walked away, leading to Amy wondering what she could do now.

"...I know where you're coming from. I was scared. I was young. I didn't fully understand what I could do…"

Jasmine continued with her speech. Noah just stared blankly, as did his other teammates.

"But it doesn't matter where you come from...or how hard your life was...it matters what you're made of. And how much fighting spirit you can give. And your grit and your…"

At that moment, Noah looked at the script, he read it over very quickly, looking confused. "Cut" he called

Jasmine suddenly stopped her monologue and looked down at the director. "Now what?" she said, annoyed

Noah was still looking at the script. "You messed up a line. You're not supposed to say 'And your grit', you're supposed to say 'If you've got grit, you can win any battle."

"I felt it was more natural the way I said it. Actors don't have to follow the script exactly."

Noah leaned back in his chair and pointed at Gwen, Owen and Sanders. "They created the script for you to follow. I'm the director and I say to follow the script _exactly _how it was written."

Owen watched on, looking at the Aussie. At this point, Jasmine was getting frustrated. She started marching towards the director. "Listen here, you little bugger." she said, through gritted teeth. "I have been trying to do this scene and you…" She stopped right at the edge. Noah had just started to get out his chair. Jasmine breathed through her nose and sighed. "I just want to get through this scene. I've never acted in front of a camera before." She sat down and put her hand to her head. "I just want to get through this scene at least once, just so I say I can." She looked back up, with a look of both sadness and passion in her eyes. "I wanna prove myself to the team, so just give me a chance."

Noah didn't say anything. No one knew what to say. The Brainiac still showed no sign of sympathy towards the Aussie's speech and was about to say something, when…

"Just let her do the scene."

Noah turned to Gwen, who walked up to him. "If we don't have a complete scene, we can't win. Just let her do the scene at least once and we can work on it after."

Noah still didn't say anything at first. He got back in his chair and looked up at the Aussie. Finally, he sighed in frustration. "Fine. Do the scene."

Jasmine was surprised that Noah had relented but quickly looked determined and walked back to her spot. When she was in the middle, Noah called 'Action.' Jasmine immediately looked up into the invisible crowd and began.

"When I look out at all of you, I see fire in your eyes and metal in your teeth. I know that I have the best guys to fight this war, by my side. And I know some of you are worried. Some are even scared." She paused dramatically. "I know where you're coming from. I was scared. I was young. I didn't fully understand what I could do." She paused again. "But it doesn't matter where you come from...or how hard your life was...it matters what you're made of. And how much fighting spirit you can give. And your grit and your passion." She paused again. "I fought, not because I wasn't scared, heck, I was damn near terrified." Another short pause. "But I put that fear aside because this war means more than any of us will ever know. It's about our home turf. Our mates back at home, who are rooting for us to win. Our parents, who want to see us come back in one piece. And most importantly...our future is at stake. I don't know about you, but I want to live long enough to tell my future kid that their Mama fought in the biggest battle of her life and lived to tell the tale. Whatever happens out there, I just wanna know you gave it your all. And that you fought, and that when you walk up to me, look me square in the eye and tell me 'I...never gave up.' "

Jasmine finished her monologue, breathing heavily. She paused for a few seconds, adding more drama to her already dramatic performance. No one said anything at first. Most of her teammates seemed to be in awe at Jasmine's speech. Noah still hadn't changed his look though, but he was noticeably quiet. Jasmine looked at him, waiting for a response.

Finally, the Brainiac gave her one. "That was...fine." He said this as if he was hiding what he really felt. Jasmine gave a relieved smile at this. Even if it wasn't exactly a compliment, it was the first nice thing Noah said to her. "Alright, take five." He finished, walking away.

Most of his teammates also spread out, but Gwen, Sanders and Macarthur went up to Jasmine and complimented her performance. Even Courtney was impressed, as she watched from a distance. Jasmine just smiled as she took it all in.

"And when you put something to your mind, you can do anything...anything...any- Line!"

Samey, Duncan and some of the other Bobcats sighed in frustration.

"Alright, cut." She walked up to set and gave the script to the Diva. Heather swiped it out of her hands. Samey looked back at her crew. "Alright, let's take a break."

Most of her teammates dispersed at this, including Duncan. But Heather wasn't done.

"Maybe I should just do this scene by myself," She called out "It might be easier because I don't have to be around so many people that suck."

Most of her teammates rolled their eyes. But Jo glared at the Diva. But then she eyed the only other competitor who hadn't left: Dawn, and smirked.

**Confessional (Jo): **She had a devilish grin on her face. "If anyone is gonna be responsible for getting rid of that Twig, it's gonna be me." She paused. "But now, I realize I need someone else to make my plan work."

Static

As casually as possible, Jo walked up to the Moonchild. She gave the biggest, but also fakest grin she could. "Hey...Dawn."

Dawn turned. "Oh, Jo. You called me by actual name. You must be getting over your childhood nickname from the 1st grade."

"Yeah I-" Jo froze, completely caught off guard by Dawn's wording. She had to gather her thoughts for a few seconds, before continuing. "Listen. I have an idea. Heather seems really tense. I think what might help her is if you talk to her and...ya know...read...her." Dawn blinked. "Just...do that thing you just to me. But to her."

Dawn turned again to look at Heather. She had been pacing, while reading over her script. She put her hand under her chin, while Jo smirked.

**Confessional (Dawn): **"Am I aware Jo is trying to trick me? Of course." She paused. "But at the same time...I've never read Heather's aura. It could prove to be very interesting."

Static

Heather had stopped pacing, but was still reading her script. Without her noticing, Dawn got close to her and closed her eyes. But something happened. Her eyes twitched. Something was wrong. She flexed her eyelids several times, over and over, clearly bothered by something. Finally, her eyes shot open and she let out a loud gasp. Heather heard this and turned, confused by the Moon Child's presence.

"Can I help you?" She snarked.

But Dawn was at loss for words, she looked terrified to be face to face with the Diva. She stammered. "Y-You...W-W-What...I-I…" She continued to stutter in front of the confused Heather. Finally Dawn shouted out. "What did you do to your cat?"

Heather's eyes widened. "Excuse me?"

But Dawn ignored her, and turned away, mumbling to herself. "And...the first grade...You sent...Tony...to the hospital...twice."

Heather was becoming more distressed at Dawn. "What are you talking about?"

"A-And...Y-You were mad that Janet was more popular than you." She quickly turned, looking even more pale. "S-So you ran your teacher over with her car, and you blamed it on her."

Heather was still at a loss for words. But Dawn continued.

Owen had been walking backstage. The Shark Cowboys were close to starting again and hopefully finishing the challenge.

The Big Guy stopped when he heard whispers. It was coming from behind the trailer. He poked his head around the corner and was surprised by what he saw.

It was Jasmine. She had her head up against the steel wall of the trailer. She was talking to herself.

"Ok...just get through this. And whatever you do, do not let him get to you. You've dealt with people like him, and look where you are now. You've come this far and you aren't going to let that annoying little weasel get in your head." She jerked her head up and breathed in through her nose, giving a determined and serious expression. Owen could see her eyes were slightly red.

Had she been crying?

Owen hid himself, before Jasmine could see her. He had guilt written all over his face.

Dawn had just finished going over what she learned from reading Heather's aura. She included breaking a boy's bike and his arm because he had a crush on another girl, the time she mixed dry dog turds into the girl scout's cookie and the time she shaved her grandma's head because Daddy gave a compliment that wasn't to his little girl.

By the end of it, Dawn was breathing heavily, and Heather's mouth was agape. Finally, the Moonchild looked up in a state of panic. "I-I need to get away from you...you're a monster!" With that, she bolted away, leaving behind a still stunned Heather. She dropped the script in her hand. Her mind was still processing what just happened.

"Alright, Heather. Are you ready for the next take?"

Heather turned. Duncan, Samey and the rest of the Bobcats had just returned. Duncan walked up to her, noticing the Diva's expression.

"You good?" He asked

Samey noticed this too. "Heather, are you ready?"

Heather did not respond at all. She just stood there, still mouth agape. The only one who wasn't confused was Jo, who grinned and leaned towards the director. "I think she's good. She's just staying in character."

Samey was confused by this, but shrugged. "Alright." She called. " 'Action'"

Duncan wasn't sure exactly how to start, but did so anyways in his high pitched voice. "Well, Ruby. The only way to get into to rescue the orphans is if we…" Whatever the rest of the line was, fell on deaf ears. Heather's mind was starting to come back. The gears were slowly turning. Duncan had finished his line, and waited for Heather to continue. Everyone else waited too. Jo continued to smirk. Finally, Heather moved her head to look at the rest of her team.

"I-I….I-I…"

Her gaze fell on Dawn, who was still visibly shaken.

And then everything went red.

Heather could no longer hold anything back anymore. Furiously, she stomped towards the Moon Child. She got the edge of the set and pointed at her.

"HOW DARE YOU TALK ABOUT ME LIKE THAT YOU SON OF A-"

Whatever rant Heather went on directed towards Dawn was something that should never be aired on TV. It was similar to the rant Lindsay went on towards the Diva back in season 1. But this was much...MUCH worse. Heather let all her anger out on Dawn for exposing things from her past to the entire TV world. If words were weapons, Heather would've been tried for a dozen counts of homicide, if not more. Dawn was practically shrinking while being chewed out by the Diva.

The rest of her teammates watched on in shock and horror. Even Jo couldn't believe the words Heather was saying. The Shark Cowboys had stopped working and were also watching, in awe, at Heather's screaming rant. Chris and Chef also had their jaws open.

Finally, with one more unmentionable word, Heather slammed her foot down and stomped away. Off the set, past the crew and down the hill.

There was a few seconds of silence, before Chris spoke up.

"Well...that was...not suitable for families..."

Samey also broke her trance and spoke to Chris. "Uh, Chris...now that we're missing one of our actors, what are we supposed to do?"

Chris pondered. "Good question." He walked onto the Bobcat's set and held up his arms. "Attention, competitors!" Said competitors broke out of their trance to hear what the host had to say. "I know I never mentioned it, but a rule of this competition would be that if any competitor left the set, before their scene was finished, they would cost their team the game. Therefore, with Heather's...exit, the Vengeful Bobcats are disqualified, and the Shark Cowboys are the winners of today's challenge."

The Cowboys cheered for their victory, though some were still unnerved. Chris looked at the Bobcats. "I'll see you guys at the elimination ceremony." He then turned to the Cowboys, and he and Chef walked up to them. "Jasmine?"

The Aussie looked at the host, curious what he wanted. "Yes…?"

Chef was holding something behind his back. At Chris' instruction he revealed what it was and held it out. It was…

"...a DVD player?" Jasmine took her prize, still confused by what this meant.

"This is only half of your prize, Jazz. Trust me, it will make sense later on." With that he turned and walked away. The rest of the competitors cheered and congratulated Jasmine. The Aussie smiled with pride. Noah, on the other hand, watched with contempt.

Later that night, the elimination ceremony started. Music swelled up, as several pictures of Chris appeared rolled on screen. It finished with a loud trumpet, revealing Chris standing at a podium in a nice blue suit. Some of his interns were welding to the large statues of him, attaching new arms. Though the arms were metal and grey, instead of gold and looked weird. Also, the welding was creating a lot of noise.

"Alright…" Chris shouted, over the welders. "Tonight's elimination ceremony should be…"

"What?!" the Bobcats screamed.

Chris looked annoyed. "I said that tonight's-"

"Speak up!" Screamed Jo.

Chris sighed in annoyance and turned to his welding intern. He waved his arms around.

"Hey!"

The intern noticed him and turned off his blowtorch and looked at the host.

"Can that wait until after I'm done?!"

The intern realized that Chris was angry and nodded profusely. At that moment, the welded arm broke off and crashed somewhere off the set. The intern looked terrified, realizing what just happened. Chris glared at him, but sighed and turned back to the podium.

"We'll deal with that later. Let's get this over with. Under your seats is your voting device. On it, there should be pictures of you and your teammates. Tap whichever you want to vote out and we'll find out who's going home tonight."

The competitors did as they were told, and pulled out the devices. Alejandro was noticeably sitting away from Jo, Scott and Amy. He nervously looked at his device. Jo noticed this and whispered something to Amy. The Evil Twin nodded at whatever Jo had said.

Every competitor quickly cast their votes. A cracking sound was heard and all the competitors turned to Heather, who _no one _was sitting next to. She had broken the screen of the device from pushing too hard on it. Dawn was still shaking from her encounter today. But with everyone not looking at him, Alejandro quickly cast his vote.

A few moments passed, and Chef walked up, wearing a long pink dress and tiara. Most of the competitors snickered at this, while Chef just grumbled. He had a piece of paper on a silver platter that he handed to Chris. The host took it and read it over. He chuckled.

"Yeah, I'm not surprised." He looked at the Bobcats. "So since we're at a shortage of trophies," He pulled out a small golden statue of himself, but with its head missing and red spray paint on it. "Whoever receives this trophy will be the one going home. And that person is..."

…

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(Why am I stalling? I think everyone knows who it'll be)

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"...Heather."

The host tossed the statue towards the Diva. But instead of catching it, Heather slapped it away. It hit Duncan's head with a loud CLANG and he fell to the floor. The Diva stood up and walked down the bleachers. "So long, good riddance and I hope to never see any of you, for as long as I live."

"Heather, you're probably familiar with the Lamo-o-sine." Chris pointed to a crappy, beat up limousine that would take Heather away.

"Shut it, McLean." Heather walked by, flipping off the host in the process. Jo grinned as she walked away, ecstatic her plan had worked.

But as she walked to the limousine, Heather stopped. She turned around and looked at Alejandro. The Latino wasn't sure how to respond, and for a few seconds, Heather didn't do or say anything. Finally, Heather gave a very small smile at him, which surprised Alejandro. He returned the smile and even waved. Heather then turned back to the Lamo-o-sine, got in and it drove away. Alejandro smiled as it left, while Jo glared at him from behind.

Chris looked to the camera from his podium. "Well that certainly was eventful. Our third finalist is gone, and we still have so many people left. What new challenges will these competitors face? And what will the fallout be from tonight's elimination? I certainly can't wait to find out on the next episode of...Total...Drama...L...egends!"

Later that night, Chef was still in his dress. He walked out his trailer, with a piece of paper in his hand. Without a care, he tossed it into the nearby trashcan and walked back into his trailer. A few seconds had passed, when a shadowy figure appeared. It walked over towards the trash can and picked up the paper. It pulled out and turned on a flashlight, revealing the figure to be Amy. She looked over the paper, and smiled.

"Jo is not gonna like this."

The list contained all the Vengeful Bobcats names and who they voted for. Almost everyone had voted for Heather, except for two. The first was obviously Heather.

The other who didn't vote for her was Alejandro.

Vengeful Bobcats: Amy, Samey, Duncan, Scott, Alejandro, Dawn, Zoey and Jo

Shark Cowboys: Gwen, Courtney, Macarthur, Sanders, Noah, Owen and Jasmine

Placement:

22nd: Sierra

21st: Lightning

20th: Tyler

19th: Leshawna

18th: Mike

17th: Cody

16th: Heather

Votes

Heather: Jo, Scott, Amy, Samey, Dawn, Duncan, Zoey

Dawn: Heather, Alejandro

* * *

**Yay! New chapter! I enjoyed writing this one. I don't know how people will feel about eliminating Heather before the merge, but I honestly didn't know what else to do with her. Also I absolutely loved the thought of Dawn being traumatized from reading Heather's aura. I'll leave it to the imagination on what Heather said.**

**Please leave a review because it is always a joy to hear what people have to say (whether positive or negative).**


	9. Space-Off

**Infinity Wizard: As always, thank you for the awesome review. I'll admit I could've written Jasmine's speech better. **

**KirbyStar: Macarthur is, right now, my favorite character to write for. Glad you enjoyed Chapter 8. **

**Knifez: Thank you. I tried to make it clear that this is a different Noah and he is not acting like his usual self. **

**Guest review #27: I'm glad you like the alliance. They're fun to write. **

**Remember to leave a review of the chapter once you're done reading it. **

"On the previous episode of Total Drama Legends. Did someone say Action?! We certainly did. The competitors were tasked with making their own scenes...from scratch. We had dictators...I mean, directors in charge of it all. While one director, Samey, took the boring way of doing things, Noah, did everything in his own power to make our resident Aussie crack. But Jasmine's performance kept her team in the game, and proved to be a 4-star smash. Jo had a dastardly deed under her sweatshirt, and with a little help from Dawn, caused Heather to go into a massive outburst. One that scarred the Moonchild severely...which I did not think was possible. For the sake of Dawn's innocence, Heather got the boot and took a one way trip on the lame-o-sine."

The screen went static and Chris was revealed to be in the editor's booth, wearing a dark hooded robe. "And can someone please tell me what is going on between Duncan and Sanders? Because neither of them want to admit anything." He looked at the camera, then down at his outfit. "Oh? This? This is just a preview for today's challenge. You wanna know what it is? Well stick around, and turn on your hyperdrive, because we're about to jump right into one epic episode of...Total...Drama...L...egends!"

It was moments after that night's elimination ceremony. The Shark Cowboys were hanging around a small campfire and sitting on some benches, outside of the trailers. Gwen and Courtney were both sitting on the grass. Noah was the only one not talking to anyone. They had heard the opening notes to the elimination ceremony earlier. Gwen looked over to where they heard the music.

"Ya think they're done with the elimination by now?"

"Probably," Courtney added "I mean it's not that obvious who's going home."

"What do you mean?" Owen asked

Courtney turned to the Big Guy. "You heard Heather's outburst from today's challenge. If that's not a reason to get sent home, I don't know what is."

Owen looked skeptical. "I don't know. Heather wouldn't have an outburst like that unless she was in a bad mood…"

"When isn't she in a bad mood?" Gwen whispered to Courtney, who chuckled in response.

"…or if she was provoked." Owen finished

Jasmine chimed in. "Are you suggesting someone sabotaged their own team to get rid of Heather?"

Before Owen could respond, "Finally someone figured it out!"

Everyone turned their heads to Macarthur. She leaned forward, ready to drop some knowledge. "_Obviously_ someone sabotaged the team. They have Scott, Alejandro, Jo and (while I don't think he would do something like that) Duncan. Someone wanted Heather gone because she's such a big threat."

"Could it also be the fact that no one likes her?" Sanders added, leading to a small laugh from Gwen and Courtney. Macarthur pointed at her partner.

"Oh, definitely, but I think it's more than that. I've had a theory about if you put all the past season villains on one team, and it goes like this-"

Courtney covered her ears. "Please, don't go on another rant. Once was enough." She desperately looked around for a new topic of discussion. Her gaze fell on Jasmine and her portable DVD player. She smiled. "Congrats again on the win from today."

Jasmine's face lit up. "Thanks. That was my first time actually getting to act, so this is kind of a big deal for me." Noah rolled his eyes at this, but didn't say anything.

Owen spoke up. "So, wait. Did you not have to act in any plays in school?"

Jasmine sighed. "Technically, yes." She looked up at the rest of her team, who were eagerly awaiting her answer. Finally, she put her head on her forehead and mumbled a response, embarrassed. "I was always the tree."

Most of her teammates chuckled lightly, but Noah laughed a little louder than the others. He was met with quick glares.

They all heard a crunch from a twig and everyone turned their heads. The Vengeful Bobcats (minus Amy) had just gotten back from the elimination ceremony. Jo had her hands behind her head and was grinning. Zoey had her hands on Dawn's shoulders, who was noticeably paler than usual and hugging herself.

Gwen looked concerned. "Is she alright?"

Zoey looked up. "I really don't know. She hasn't said a word since today's challenge. Well I mean, maybe some mumbling, but nothing that coherent."

Dawn took a seat, on the opposite side of the Shark Cowboys. The rest of her team did the same.

"What happened to her?" Asked Sanders

Before Zoey could respond, Jo spoke up. "World War Heather is what happened."

Dawn immediately turned to the Jockette, looking uncharacteristically bitter. "That only happened because _you_ told me to read her aura." Jo simply shrugged.

Macarthur went wide eyed at this and looked at Jo. She then gave a smirk and a small nod, as if she was impressed. Jo didn't notice.

**Confessional (Macarthur): **"So Jo was the sabotager?" She shrugged. "I'm honestly not that surprised. She's probably still bitter over her early elimination back in All-Stars." She put her hand to her chin. "But I don't think she's working alone...question is: who's working with her?"

Static

"So Heather was the one sent home?" Asked Courtney

The Vengeful Bobcats nodded. Most not really caring, except for Alejandro who looked noticeably downcast.

"So if Heather's gone," Noah spoke up. The rest of the competitors turned their heads to him. The Brainiac was smirking. "That makes this the first season that I outlasted her." He chuckled

Some of the competitors rolled their eyes at this, and some laughed. But Jasmine glared at him.

"You'll be lucky to not go home after tomorrow's challenge."

Noah leaned forward, with his hand clasped. "Are you implying that you're gonna try to lose the challenge for us...again?"

An argument broke out between the Aussie and the Brainiac, with Sanders and Owen trying to calm the two down. Macarthur would've tried to stop them, but she was too engrossed in the drama. Most of the Bobcats watched with interest. Duncan, on the other hand, had his eyes on someone else. Gwen.

**Confessional (Duncan): **"Ya know? Maybe the fact that Gwen is willing to sit in a group with me and not say anything bad about me might be a good sign." He paused, rethinking what he said. "Yet again, it would probably be better if she said..._something _about me."

Static

As Jasmine and Noah argued, weird sounds could be heard in the distance. The rest of the competitors heard it too and listened. The sound seemed like it was getting louder and closer. It got so loud that Jasmine and Noah stopped yelling at each other to listen. It sounded like lasers and spaceships whooshing around. Jo looked around. Owen was getting increasingly nervous. Gwen and Courtney leaned closer to each other, both worried about what the sound could be.

But at the point of being so loud it covered the entire area, it suddenly went quiet. Dead silent. No one said a word, and some still looked a little unnerved. Owen stood up suddenly.

"Well, guys that was fun, but I think it's time I hit the bunkaroo. Good night." Owen quickly walked towards his trailer. He reached for the door handle and pulled it open and gasped at what he saw.

In his trailer, a robed figure stood at the entrance. It was surrounded by mist in the dark room. Owen screamed and fell backwards. Some of the other competitors turned and stood up, slightly startled by the scream. Owen backed up on the ground, still panicking. The cloaked figure eerily walked down the steps. The competitors braced themselves. Once the figure reached the bottom of the steps, it grabbed it's hood, pulled it back and…

"Good evening, competitors." Chris joyfully announced. The competitors gave cold stares at their host.

Chris held his hand out and closed his eyes. "I'm sensing a disturbance…" He opened one eye, and frowned when he realized no one laughed. He opened the other eye and put his hands to his hips. "You guys don't watch enough movies."

"We get the idea, McLean, what do you want?" Duncan asked bluntly

Chris perked up slightly. "I'm glad you asked, Duncan." At that moment, Chef walked out of the trailer with a fog machine, wearing a pair of green pointy ears. "I'm here to introduce tomorrow's challenge theme. It's all about Sci-Fi."

Most of the competitors seemed a little curious about this, but Owen had a question. "Didn't we already do sci-fi in the original Action season?"

"Well," Chris interjected, "That was more alien horror sci-fi. This is just regular Sci-Fi." He continued. "Tomorrow will consist of five individual and team challenges." He turned to the Shark Cowboys. "Since you guys are down a player, one of you will have to compete twice. I will be picking who is competing against who, so everyone better get ready for tomorrow, because you'll all be in for some 'close encounters.'" The competitors looked at him with blank looks. Chris and Chef turned away, the former of whom was grumbling. "Honestly, these guys are so uneducated it hurts." Suddenly Chris stopped and turned around. He looked at Jasmine. "I almost forgot." He snapped his fingers. Chef pulled out something from behind him. It was a small thin black box. He handed it to the host, who tossed it to Jasmine, who looked confused. "That's your DVD version of your performance from yesterday. I figured you wanted it, so here ya go."

At the moment of finding out what it was, Jasmine gasped and gave a huge smile. Without a word, she sprinted into her trailer, with her portable DVD player and DVD in tow. Noah watched this happen and gave a mischievous grin. He looked at Owen and walked towards him.

Most of the competitors had decided to go to their trailers and get some sleep. Gwen, on the other hand, looked excited. "Oh man, I love Sci-fi. Space Oozer. Moon-Mania. The Wicked Aliens from the Sun."

"You _like_ that one?" Duncan spoke up, who happened to be standing next to her. "It's so cheesy."

Gwen turned to him, grinning. "Yeah, it's cheesy. That's why I like it."

Duncan scoffed. "The best Sci-Fi movie is clearly Space Hunter III. It's got it all. Blood, gore, creepy space aliens…"

"...mindless violence, objectification of women and terrible, terrible effects."

Duncan shrugged. "What can I say? I have a type."

The two shared a laugh. It wasn't a big laugh, but it was something. Duncan was about to say something more, but both of them were cut off by an AHEM. Duncan and Gwen turned to see Courtney, looking very sternly at the two. Gwen turned back to Duncan, and remembered who she was talking to. She looked very nervously at Duncan, who was now confused.

"Are you-"

Gwen quickly turned away and headed back to her trailer. "I've gotta go." She mumbled.

"But she-"

Duncan realized saying anything more wouldn't do anything. She watched as Gwen went through the door, with Courtney glaring at him. But he didn't see Zoey, watching him from her window. She was thinking of something.

**Confessional (Zoey): **"I might have an idea that helps Duncan get back with Gwen. Or at least, remember how they used to be friends. Hopefully, Duncan doesn't mess this one up."

Static

Jo was heading into her trailer, but stopped when she heard footsteps. She turned around, and saw Amy running towards her with a piece of paper in tow. She smirked and handed the paper to her. Jo grabbed it and read it over. As she looked it over, her face changed. "I knew it," She said annoyed, but also not at all surprised. "He didn't vote with us like he said he would."

"What are you gonna do about it?" Amy asked

Jo put the paper down, and looked at the ground. "He's gonna learn what happens when people go against me."

Amy cocked her head slightly. "You mean _us_?"

Jo suddenly turned her head towards the Twin, surprising her in the process. "You heard what I said." And she headed towards her trailer, Amy gave a glaring smirk.

**Confessional (Amy): **"Jo is so stupid. She has no idea what I'm capable of. For now, I'll go with what she says. Make her think I'm trustworthy. And when she's least expecting it." She slammed her fist into her palm and smirked.

Static

Next day, the competitors were gathered outside the dark warehouses. In the middle of it all was a tent. It had several pieces of cardboard painted as either spaceships, aliens or planets. They were all attached to poles that extended to the walls of the tent. At the front of the tent, on the small table, were two paintball guns, one red and one blue. Chris stood in front of it.

"Welcome to the first challenge, competitors. I already told you that there are five, so if you win three, you'll win the challenge for your team."

**Confessional (Jo): **She was smirking and had her shoes on the table . "If I played all the games, I'd just win every challenge. Makes sense for McLean to choose who competes, otherwise the entire challenge would be over in ten seconds." She laughed to herself, forgetting her position. She leaned back a little too much, and fell over in her chair. She realized too late and crashed to the ground, groaning.

Static

Chris rubbed his hands together. "Now. Who's gonna compete in the first challenge?" He eyed the competitors all around. He pointed. "Let's go with Zoey and...Sanders." Zoey stepped forward, looking confident. Sanders did the same, high fiving Macarthur and Gwen in the process. The two stepped in front of the tent. "Like some Sci-Fi movies, the big plan they do at the end involves hitting a specific part of a spaceship or station." He pointed into the tent. "In there, you have to hit a specific target. Behind all that space stuff, there's a target with a black X on it. Be the first to hit that with your paintball gun and you'll win the challenge." Zoey and Sanders picked up their guns and aimed.

Both could see the target perfectly and smirked, thinking it would be easy. Chris reached for a nearby lever and pulled it. Immediately everything in front of the two competitors started moving. Sanders and Zoey were surprised and lost track of the target.

"Go!"

Quickly, Zoey started shooting at the target. But it was near impossible with all the moving objects in front of her. She hit a spaceship and an alien, but not the target. Sanders didn't shoot at first, she remembered her training in the academy and figured it wasn't a good idea to waste her shots too quickly. Zoey then hit another dangling spaceship. Suddenly a large cut out of a green alien with one eye and eight tentacles popped out from the ground in front of her. Zoey screamed and fell back. Chris laughed.

"Oh yeah I forgot to mention. If you hit the wrong target too many times, you'll get a little surprise."

Zoey glared at him, as she stood up. Sanders fired her first shot, which hit the pole attached to one of the spaceships.

The rest of the competitors watched. Noah and Owen stood next to each other. Noah had his usual bored expression, but Owen looked a little nervous.

**Confessional (Owen): **"So last night, Noah told me about his next plan. He wants me to...take Jasmine's DVD and hide it." He paused, thinking about what he should do. He looked guilty. "I mean...I don't know if I actually want to do it, but...if Noah does it, Jasmine will probably beat him up...and I don't want that to happen...but, on the other hand…"

Static

"Uh, Chris?" Owen called, raising his hand.

Chris turned and looked at the Big Guy weirdly. "Yes? Owen?"

Owen twirled his fingers around. "Can I...can I...Ya know..." Noah elbowed him in the side. "Can I go to the bathroom?!" He said quickly.

Chris stared for a few seconds. Then he shrugged. "Whatever. Your challenge doesn't begin until later. Just make it quick and if we're not here when you finish, meet us at the craft services tent."

Owen gave an awkward smile and a thumbs up. He walked weirdly away, while Noah gave a dull smile.

DING. DING.

"Yes!"

The bell sound was followed shortly by an explosion sound. Chris turned around. Sanders and Zoey were still in front of the tent, but Sanders had her hand in a celebratory fist, while Zoey had just put her gun down. The host stepped towards them and looked inside the tent. Everything had stopped moving. He got a good look at the back of the tent and saw the target. It had a blue spot, right in the center of it. He smiled and turned around. "It looks like Sanders wins the first challenge for her team." The Shark Cowboys cheered at this, with Macarthur cheering much louder than everyone else.

"You da man!"

Sanders smiled, then looked at Zoey. With some hesitation, she held out her arm for a handshake. Zoey happily returned it.

Chris faced the competitors. "Now that all that's done, let's head to the next challenge. To the craft services tent."

**Confessional (Sanders): **She couldn't help but smile at her victory. "Ok. I'll admit it. That was pretty fun. I know this is something that Macarthur would do, but…" She looked to her left and right to make sure no one was looking. She stood up and raised her fists to the sky and bellowed a resounding. "YEEEEESSSSS!"

Static

Back at the trailers, Owen nervously crept up to the girls side. The door was slightly opened. He took a deep breath as he opened it. He looked at each of the beds. He couldn't tell which bed was hers, but also noticed that none of the beds could possibly fit Jasmine. He finally noticed what looked like a vest sticking out of a bag on a nearby table. Owen gulped as he approached it. He noticed the DVD player next to the bag, as well as an open DVD case. The disc wasn't in it. Owen cringed at what he was about to do, but didn't think he had a choice. With lots of hesitation, he pushed the eject button, grabbed the DVD, put it in the case and ran out of the trailer, with the case tucked under his arms. He went into the guys trailer and pushed it underneath his bed. He looked extremely guilty as he was leaving.

The competitors had just gathered at the kitchen in the craft tent. Chris stood in front of a metal reinforced door. He faced the competitors. "Another popular aspect of Science Fiction is when people have to sleep in those really cold pods for long periods of time." Chef opened the door. It was revealed to be a cold freezer of ice. He snickered. Chris went on. "So for this challenge, two competitors will have to spend a certain amount of time in this cold...freezing...icy…freezer." He cackled.

The competitors looked nervous. Courtney spoke up. "Chris, you do realize that could kill us if we did that?"

Chris rolled his eyes. "Yes, Courtney. I am aware. You'll only have to spend a maximum of thirty minutes inside, and we'll be monitoring you in case something goes wrong." He clapped his hands together. "Now for our lucky contestants to come forward."

**Confessional (Noah): **"I know some people say I have an ice cold heart, but I really have no intent of entering that freezer." He held up his arm. "I'm pretty sure if my bones got frozen, you could snap them like an icicle."

Static

"The competitors that will be competing in this challenge are Jo and...Noah."

The Brainiac gaped at this, but sighed. "Figures…" he mumbled to himself. Jasmine couldn't help but smirk.

Jo and Noah stepped forward. Noah looked at the Jockette, who was looking very confident. "You think you can handle thirty minutes in a freezer with me, Nerd Boy?"

Noah didn't look phased, he smirked. "As someone who has eight siblings, I should have no issue dealing with you."

Jo glared at him. Chris watched.

"Easy, Jo. There will be no physical contact at any point during your time in the cryo-pod. Now get to it, you two." He held open the freezer door as Jo and Noah walked in. Neither seemed to notice how cold it was at first. Chris closed the door, leaving the competitors to wait and find out who the winner would be. Duncan was looking at Gwen from a distance.

**Confessional (Duncan): **"So Zoey gave me the idea of getting back with Gwen by talking about Sci-Fi movies. But I need to pick the right moment. I really don't want to screw this up."

Static

The Ex-Con looked over at Zoey, silently asking her 'now?'

Zoey looked over at Gwen, who was standing at the front, with Courtney. She looked back at Duncan and shook her head. Duncan looked annoyed, but didn't do anything else.

A minute later, Owen entered the tent. Some of the competitors turned their heads to see him come in. He looked very nervous. He looked around.

"Where's Noah?" he asked. Sanders pointed at the freezer. Owen blinked. "Why-"

"It's part of the next challenge." Macarthur finished.

"What took you so long?" Sanders added

Owen scratched the back of his head, looked around in a panic. "Oh, uhhh. I was- y'know. The bathroom...took me a little while longer than usual because...because…"

At that moment, there was a loud knocking from inside the freezer. The competitors turned their heads to it, confused. Chris also looked confused. Then there was another knock, harder than the first. Still unsure, Chris opened the freezer. The cold air and dry ice flew out of it, and it was revealed that Jo was standing at that front. She looked cold and annoyed. Without a word, she walked out of the freezer and into the kitchen with the rest of the competitors. Her team looked at her bewildered. Chris was equally shocked.

"Well, with Jo out of the freezer that means...the Shark Cowboys win the second round…"

Duncan stepped in front of the Jockette. He looked pissed. "What happened?! It hasn't even been five minutes."

Jo wasn't intimidated as she looked at her teammate. "Well...try spending five minutes anywhere with…" She pointed. "...him."

Duncan looked at who she was pointing at. Noah had just walked out the freezer, rubbing his arms from the cold, but grinning. Duncan looked back and seemingly understood.

Noah noticed Owen and walked up to him. He gave him a look. Owen knew what it meant and, very shamefully, nodded his head. Noah smiled and patted his friend on the shoulder. Owen's expression didn't change. Scott, from a distance, watched this unfold. He had another trick up his sleeve.

Later, the competitors were at a new location. It was in a large field area next to the mess hall tent. There were two short towers with ladders leading to the top.

"Now for challenge number three," Chris started "This is all about stopping the robot takeover."

All the competitors looked around at the empty field. Samey spoke up, "What robots?"

At that moment, Chris snapped his fingers. Out of nowhere, over a dozen interns appeared. They were all dressed in cardboard, making them look like robots. Half of them were making clanking and gear sounds as they walked. After a few seconds, Chris closed his hand into a fist and the interns went quiet. He pointed at the small towers. "For this game, two competitors from each team will go to the top of these towers. Up there, you'll find two paintball guns of your team color. Your goal, for the next five minutes, is to shoot the robots. The more paint you get on them, the higher your score will be. Highest score wins for their team." He eyed the Vengeful Bobcats. "You guys are under a lot of pressure to win. If you don't, you'll lose the whole challenge and will have to send someone home." The Bobcats tried to seem determined, but still looked worried. "Alright, I need Gwen and Owen on the first tower and Amy and Scott for the second. Get up there people."

Gwen smiled and looked at Owen. She held out his fist for him to bump it. But the Big Guy didn't notice it though. He was distracted and instead went towards the tower without looking at her. Gwen looked confused, as she slowly put her arm down.

Once at the top, all four competitors had their guns in hand, with extra ammo on the floor. The interns actually looked a little scared when they knew what was going to happen. Chris pointed up at the competitors.

"Get ready…" The four readied and aimed their guns at the waiting interns. Owen looked especially focused. Chris pointed down at the robot interns. "...Fire!"

All the competitors pulled their triggers and fired. The interns scrambled in a panic, their robot noises replaced with screams of panic. Scott shot one, twisting its cardboard head, blocking his vision. He crashed into another intern and both fell onto the ground, leading both teams to fire down on them.

Gwen was having fun, but her smile faded when she looked at her teammate. Owen wasn't smiling. He actually looked very focused and stern.

**Confessional (Gwen): **She looked annoyed, crossing her arms. "I know what's bothering him. It's gotta be Noah. I don't know what's going on between them, but I'm sure Owen doesn't like being around him."

**Confessional (Scott): **He was grinning mischievously. "You saw his face. He's mad about something. It's clearly his friend. Now, I just need to use it to my advantage.

Static

Scott and Amy focused on shooting at the interns for a bit. But Scott looked over at his opponents. He grinned. "Watch this." He whispered to Amy.

The Bad Twin continued to shoot, but eyed Scott.

"It must be really lucky of them to have Noah on their team." Scott said, loud enough for Owen to hear, in a sarcastic tone. While Owen didn't look at him, he did wince at what the Country Boy was saying. Scott continued. "Must be great to have such an honest...caring...funny…" As Scott went on, Owen became more and more agitated. His shots were becoming more sporadic. He shot the ground a few times, completely missing the targets. "And you know he must be looking out for his fellow teammates." Scott finished. Owen gritted his teeth, angrier than ever. His shots weren't even close to the targets. He almost shot a camera at one point. Gwen noticed this too late and tried to stop him.

"Owen, what are you doing?" She stopped shooting.

Amy and Scott took the opportunity and shot the robot interns. Without any opposition, they quickly covered the interns in red paint.

Gwen was still trying to stop Owen. Finally, Owen snapped back, realizing what he was doing. But it was too late.

"Time." Chris called.

Amy and Scott stopped shooting at that moment and looked at the host. He was looking at the tired and groaning interns. The one who was knocked to the ground was still kicking, trying and failing to get up. While there was a bit of blue Cowboy paint on some, almost every robot had red Bobcat paint on them. That was enough for Chris to announce the Bobcats as the winners. Their team cheered at this.

"Could we get a Bobcat comeback?" Chris looked at the camera.

Gwen was just coming down her ladder. Zoey saw her, and then looked at Duncan. The Ex-Con was thinking the same thing she was. The Indie Chick nodded, and Duncan smiled. He quickly ran up to the Goth.

"You know what that reminded me of?" he said as he came up.

Gwen looked surprised. "What?" she asked

"You remember Zombie Bots II, where the mad scientist turns all those orphans into mindless robots?"

Gwen blinked, not sure how to respond at first. But she gave a small smile. "I do. That movie is so cheesy. It makes no sense whatsoever. How does anyone agree to get turned into zombie robots?"

Duncan smirked. "I don't know, I think it would be pretty cool." He held out his arms and walked like he was a zombie. He started making zombie noises, but would also jolt his arms around, like a robot. "Am I cool, yet?"

Gwen couldn't help but chuckle. Duncan walked past her. But when he turned around to continue his walk, he stopped. Now standing in front of the Goth, was Duncan's other ex, Courtney. Gwen knew the chaos that would ensue and watched nervously. Duncan crossed his arms and smirked at her. "Can I help you?"

"Don't you have somewhere else to be?" Courtney asked, bluntly. "Like your team, perhaps?"

"I'm not doing anything wrong." he said, innocently.

Courtney pointed at Gwen, who was feeling very awkward. "You're bothering her."

Now, Duncan was becoming agitated. "And how do you know?"

"I know a lot more about her than you ever did."

Duncan stepped forward. "I'm sure you do. I hope she remembers how you were a backstabber who would gladly dump her if it meant winning a million bucks." Courtney was taken aback, and struggled to think of a comeback.

"Excuse me?!"

That wasn't from Courtney though. Duncan went wide eyed as he saw Gwen walk up to him and point directly in his face.

"You do not get to talk to her like that," she said, furiously. "Courtney and I have clearly worked things out since then. Why would you go so low to bring up something like that?" She turned and walked away, with Courtney. "I thought you would've changed, Duncan. At least a little bit. But I was wrong. You're still the same pompous jerk you've always been. Leave me, and Courtney, alone." With that, she walked away, with the CIT in tow.

Duncan's mouth was agape. He did not expect things to go that way. It took him a few moments to come back to reality. It took him a few more moments to realize how badly he screwed up.

He looked over at Zoey, hoping she could salvage something. He was disappointed when he saw Zoey, cringing at the sight of what just happened. She didn't need to say anything to tell Duncan that he messed up badly.

"Now it's time for challenge number four" Chris announced. They were already in the next location: inside one of the warehouses. Chris stood in front of two mobile bucket lifts. But on the tips of them, there were additions of metal and flashing lights. It looked like a spaceship. "This challenge is going to be a good ol' fashioned space battle. But since we don't have the high tech effects, we're going all the way back to the old days of practical effects. Much less expensive, but way more...dangerous." He laughed at his last remark, which made the competitors feel uncomfortable. When he stopped laughing, Chris continued. "For this challenge, I'll need two people from both teams to compete." He pulled out two remote controllers from behind his back. "One person will pilot their 'ships' with these. The other player will be inside the 'ship.' You should find some buttons up there. Pressing them will activate the laser pointers. Shoot them at the other ship, and you'll trigger the sensors. If you hit it three times, your 'ship' will deactivate and you'll be out of the game." He rubbed his hand, looking at the competitors to choose.

Courtney was now looking worried. She realized that she was one of the competitors who had yet to compete. Someone else also hadn't competed yet. She closed her eyes and crossed her fingers, hoping she wouldn't have to partner with-

"Macarthur, you'll be piloting your ship for Courtney." Chris threw one of the controllers into the hands of the Cadet, much to the disappointment of Courtney.

Macarthur put her arm around the shoulders of her teammate and shook her around. "Oh yeah. We totally got this. You and me…" She got right in the CIT's face. "We're tight."

Courtney tried to push herself out of the Cadet's grasp. She eventually did and straightened her hair. "Maybe a little too tight." she mumbled to herself.

Chris then turned to the Vengeful Bobcats. "As for you guys." He pointed. "Duncan will be piloting the ship, which will be occupied by...Dawn."

The rest of the Bobcats looked at the two. Neither looked ready to compete. Dawn was still in a bad mental state from Heather's rage induced outburst and Duncan didn't look any better since his interaction with Gwen and Courtney.

"Looks like we're not gonna win this challenge." Amy whispered to Scott, who was standing behind Duncan.

"And I know exactly who we should vote out for." Scott responded. "This time, nothing will save him from elimination." He was looking directly at Duncan. The Ex-Con knew it too.

**Confessional (Duncan): **He looked very annoyed, but also very upset. "I really screwed up. Bigger than I ever have. And to top all of it off, I'm working with someone who I tried to vote out. Not to mention she's a weirdo." He paused and took a deep breath. He now looked more determined. "But I can't fix my issues with Gwen if I go home now. I've gotta work out a few things first."

Static

Courtney was climbing her ladder, still worried about her entire situation. Macarthur giving a thumbs-up didn't help. Duncan, meanwhile, had yet to enter. Dawn stood in front of the ladder, still looking slightly paranoid. Duncan noticed this, and sighed.

"Look," he said to her. "I get that Heather is a...really, really demented person. I've worked with her for five seasons now." Dawn was still a little nervous, but she looked at the Ex-con, curiously. Duncan continued. "But you gotta understand, as someone who's been to Juvie, prison and has been responsible for two televised breakups." He paused, turning around. "People suck." He turned and looked at her. "Really suck." He paused again. "But you have to understand that they will exist no matter what you do. So...just...get over it already."

Dawn looked at her teammate. Duncan couldn't tell, but her face seemed to imply she was listening. She looked down at her controller, then back at Duncan. She took a deep breath and a small smile. "Thank you." She said quietly, bowing her head slightly, then she climbed up the ladder. Duncan tried to act like he didn't care, but he gave a small smile, when he was sure no one was looking. The only problem with that was...someone _was_ looking. Sanders had watched from a distance, surprised at the whole encounter.

Soon enough, Dawn and Courtney were up in their 'ships.' Chris gave the signal to start and Macarthur immediately pushed forward. Courtney held on to keep herself balanced. Had she not had a harness attached to her and the bucket, she might've been tossed out. Quickly Duncan pushed the lever to the left and Dawn was able to dodge. Macarthur followed and swerved the bucket towards her opponent. Courtney was able to regain balance and grabbed to the handles with the shooting buttons. Once she got in range, she fired. A panel on the back of Dawn's bucket blinked a few times.

"Courtney has gotten the first shot, she just needs two more to win." Chris announced. The Shark Cowboys cheered on. As did the Vengeful Bobcats

Duncan heard this and decided he needed to step up his game. He drove the bucket away from Courtney, which signaled Macarthur to give chase. They drove in a circle for a bit, before Duncan suddenly stopped and turned the bucket around to face Courtney. Dawn quickly took aim and fired. A panel blinked on Courtney's bucket. Courtney was about to shoot back, but Duncan hit a button on the controller. Dawn's bucket lowered. This caught both of the Cowboys off guard. Macarthur quickly pulled her joystick back, stopping her bucket abruptly. Courtney had to hold on tightly to not fall over. She had stopped a few feet from Dawn's bucket. Duncan hit the button again and the bucket sprung up. Dawn took aim and shot at Courtney's bucket. The panel blinked.

"Courtney has lost two points, if she loses one more, she loses the challenge." Chris pointed.

Macarthur glared at Dawn.

**Confessional (Macarthur): **She looked aggressively at the camera. "I still remember how Dawn was able to best me in the roller derby challenge." She stopped, then smiled to herself. "Well, I mean, I won the thing for the team in the end," Back to aggressive. "But I still need to get my honor back."

Static

Duncan pulled back and drove away. Again, Macarthur gave chase. She was focused. Courtney fired her lasers, but Duncan lowered the bucket. Macarthur did the same, but as soon as she did, Duncan hit his button again. Everytime Macarthur would change the height of the bucket, Duncan pushed the button. Courtney could not get a good shot.

Macarthur was now getting more and more frustrated. She pushed forward on the lever and rammed into the back of Dawn's bucket. This worried Dawn, but not Duncan. When he knew Macarthur was going to try it again, he prepared himself. Macarthur slowed down slightly and then sped forward. But Duncan saw it coming and shifted right. Courtney, who was very scared for her well-being, sped by Dawn. Macarthur tried turning, but she was going too fast. Duncan slowed down to get behind her. The Cadet knew he was going to take the shot. Panicking, she pulled back on the joystick. A little too hard though. The lever completely broke off. Macarthur looked at the broken piece in her hand, worried what that meant. But it was Courtney who really suffered. She did stop, meaning Dawn passed her. But as Courtney was about to take her shot, she heard a groaning noise from her bucket. Before she could think of anything else, her bucket started rapidly spinning. She screamed as it did. Macarthur watched in horror and guilt.

"Oh, that's not good." she said to herself.

Duncan was able to turn his bucket around and faced the still spinning Courtney. Dawn quickly took her shot. An explosion noise was heard from Courtney's bucket. Though it was slightly drowned out by the CIT"s screaming. The bucket didn't immediately stop, but after a few seconds it started to slow down. More. And more. Until finally it lowered and came to a stop. Courtney looked petrified and pale as she leaned over the railing, trying her best not to puke.

Macarthur still looked very guilty. Chris stepped forward.

"And with that the Vengeful Bobcats win the challenge, meaning we go to the tiebreaker. Everyone, follow me. And someone get Courtney a bucket."

**Confessional (Courtney): **She had a bucket in her arms. She was leaning over it with a dazed look in her eyes as she faced the camera. She didn't say anything for a few seconds. "I-" But she didn't get to finish because she couldn't hold it in anymore. She stuck her face in the bucket and made a violent puking sound into it.

Static

As the competitors headed towards the last challenge destination. Owen was walking with a downcast look. He was still thinking about what he had done. Both with the DVD and losing his cool.

"So," Noah suddenly appeared next to him. "You put the DVD under your bed, right?'

Owen sighed, but nodded his head. Noah gave him a pat on the back. He smirked as he eyed Jasmine, who was walking in front of them. Owen noticed this.

"You'll give it back to her, right?" Owen asked innocently.

To his surprise, Noah shrugged. "I'll see where it goes. If she doesn't want to respect me anymore, I might have to keep it for myself." Owen was shocked at this, as Noah smirked. The Brainiac noticed this. "What's wrong?"

Owen quickly turned away "Nothing." He said abruptly. Noah walked away, meaning he couldn't see Owen biting his fist in guilt.

Now the competitors were at a stage area. They were all sitting down at the seats facing Chris and the stage.

"Now we come to our ultimate. Spectacular. Dramatic. Sci-Fi melee tiebreaker to determine the winners of today's challenge." The competitors looked excited and determined to win, except Courtney, who was still recovering from her challenge. Gwen was rubbing her back. Chris went on. "Up on this platform, you will fight…" From behind his back, he pulled out a plastic sword handle with a tube of plastic on one end. Chris pushed a button on the handle. The plastic lit up to a bright green color. "...with these laser swords." Some of the competitors looked excited. Chris pulled out another device. A circular sensor. "You'll attach this sensor to your body. It automatically reacts to your body getting struck. Get hit three times by the laser sword and you're out. Since this is a tag team game, two people from each team will compete." He turned to the Shark Cowboys. "Jasmine is the only member on your team not to compete, so she's in. And since she competed in the first challenge already, Sanders will be her partner." Jasmine and the Cadet looked at each other and nodded, determined to win.

Chris then looked at the Vengeful Bobcats. "Alejandro and Samey will also be competing in this challenge for the same reason. So all of you get up here and prepare to duel." He rubbed his hands maniacally as he said that last line.

Samey, Sanders and Jasmine all walked to the stage. Alejandro did the same. But he stopped suddenly. He had the sneaking suspicion someone was glaring at him. After a few seconds of thinking, he walked up. Had he turned around, he would've realized that Jo and Amy were the ones doing just that.

Soon enough all the competitors had the sensor strapped to their chests. Chris stepped down to the ground floor. He pulled out a remote controller. "Now to make things interesting." He pushed a button on it. Immediately there was a rumble on stage. The four competitors tried to stay upright. The floor suddenly started rising. Guardrails popped out of the edges of the rising stage too. The seated competitors watched on, curious and surprised by what was going to happen. Finally the platform stopped, giving the stage for the competitors to do battle. They didn't have time to ready themselves as Chris declared. "Let the battle begin!" Chef blew a whistle that gave off a high pitched alien-like sound.

Before Sanders and Jasmine had time to react, Alejandro lunged forward, striking the cadet directly on the sensor. It blinked and showed the number '2' on it. Sanders looked down, then sternly looked up at the Latino. Now it was her turn to strike. But Alejandro blocked it. Soon the two were engaged in combat, blocking one another's strikes.

Jasmine and Samey realized that it was just the two of them. Jasmine looked reluctant to fight her friend.

"She's gonna purposely fail this challenge for her." Noah whispered to Owen. Owen wanted to say something, but held his breath in frustration.

Samey looked at Jasmine and gave a slight nod, signifying that she should give it her all. Jasmine paused for a second, but nodded back. The two moved towards each other and began their duel.

Sanders aggressively swung her sword at Alejandro. The Latino smirked.

"I remember our encounter back in Scotland. You may have bested me then, but without your partner, you are nothing."

Sanders didn't respond, instead she made her strikes more aggressive and quicker. Alejandro realized she was stepping up her game and was forced to step back. He left himself open at one point and Sanders quickly swung her sword and struck him in the side. His sensor blinked and showed the number '2.' This annoyed the Latino, who looked at the now smirking cadet. They went back to striking swords.

Jasmine's and Samey's laser swords struck. Neither had landed a hit on the other just yet. They were both able to block each other's strikes multiple times. Finally, Samey saw an opening and swung low at Jasmine's ankle. It hit and Jasmine's sensor blinked. Jasmine was surprised by this and swung at the Twin. Samey blocked it with the sword, but Jasmine pushed down. Samey tried to push back, but Jasmine was too strong. She tapped the Twin's shoulder with her sword, causing her sensor to blink. Samey rolled herself away and looked at the Aussie. She gave a playful smirk, which Jasmine returned.

Sanders and Alejandro were still dueling. Both had been able to get another strike on each other, meaning they each had only one life left. Neither let up and no one was showing any weakness. Alejandro needed a new idea to ensure his victory. He quickly looked over at Jasmine and Samey and smirked. Subtly, he started taking Sander over to where the other two were battling.

The Aussie and the Twin swung at each other. The sword struck them both in the side and the two sensors blinked again. Now everyone was at one point each. Jasmine stepped back, catching her breath, as did Samey.

Once she was ready, Jasmine raised her sword and was about to step forward to strike again. She suddenly felt something poke her in the back. She was surprised and looked at her sensor. It blinked profusely, showing a '0' on it. The tall Aussie looked back and realized that Alejandro had hit her with his sword. She looked annoyed, as the Latino grinned.

Sanders realized her situation and quickly went towards Samey and began dueling. Alejandro tried to join in, but Sanders kept moving around, meaning Samey was always right in between the two. But Sanders knew she needed a plan. She looked over at the seats and saw her partner, cheering her on. Sanders thought for a moment, then thought of something.

**Confessional (Sanders): **"I remember World Tour and I remember All-Stars. And thanks to Macarthur's constant rants, I know exactly what Alejandro's weakness is."

Static

Still blocking Samey's strikes, Sanders looked towards the Latino and smirked. "I seriously wonder if Heather would have made a better teammate for you." She purposefully paused. "Ya know. If she was here."

That was all it took. Alejandro looked bemused and angry. "You little _Mocosa!_" He decided not to wait for an opportunity to strike. As soon as he saw what looked like an opening, he went for it. But all Sanders had to do was shift to her right to avoid the attack. The problem now was that Alejandro couldn't stop in time. His laser sword struck Samey in the side. The Twin's sensor went off much to her surprise. She looked back at her teammate, wondering why he did that. Alejandro didn't know what to do and froze. That was enough for Sanders to sneak up from behind Samey and strike Alejandro directly in the chest. His sensor blinked and showed the '0.' Sanders grinned, as Alejandro tried to process what just happened. The platform lowered as Chris made the announcement.

"Sanders sinches the win for the Shark Cowboys!" Her teammates cheered, as Sanders smiled in delight. Jasmine hugged her from behind her shoulders. Alejandro looked at his teammates. None of them looked happy. But Jo and Amy were smirking at him. That made the Latino gulp. Chris continued. "That means for the third time in a row, the Bobcats will be going to the elimination ceremony Tonight should be interesting."

Samey, Jasmine and Sanders walked off their stage and towards their teammates, but Alejandro watched on, knowing what this meant for him. He looked at his alliance members, but none of them looked happy at him.

**Confessional (Alejandro): **"Jo is onto me. I know it. She must think I'm a liability with Heather gone." He paused, thinking to himself. "I need to convince some of my teammates to vote her out before she gets to me."

Static.

Later that day, Alejandro was seen begging to Zoey and Duncan. It was getting late and some of the Shark Cowboys were setting up the bonfire, like the night before. But even more interestingly, Owen was looking around nervously. He quickly walked into his trailer, to his bed. Making sure no one was looking at him, he reached under the mattress and pulled out the DVD. He quickly ran out, and had just gotten to the bottom of the steps, when-

"What are you doing?"

Owen froze, and looked over to see his Brainiac teammate looking at him suspiciously. He walked up to Owen. "You look nervous. What's up?"

Owen stammered, as he held the DVD behind his back. He couldn't think of a response. But he didn't have to. Quickly thinking, Noah feigned going right, which caused the Big Guy to go left. Noah shifted to his left and grabbed the DVD. He eyed Owen.

"What are you doing with this?" He said sternly.

Again Owen stammered. "I- uh. I was uh-." Finally, Owen couldn't handle it. "I can't do it. That DVD means so much to Jasmine and I feel bad taking it from her."

Noah blinked. "I was joking about that. Of course, I'll give it back. Just as soon as she admits she was wrong."

Owen looked down at his teammate and frowned. "That isn't fair. Just give it back to her now." Noah didn't budge, so Owen took matters into his own hands. He reached over to grab the DVD, but Noah kept stepping back. Owen kept reaching and grabbing, but Noah kept pulling it away. Finally, Owen stepped back.

"Fine, Owen." Noah yelled "If you want it so much. Go get it!" Without looking, Noah tossed the DVD behind his back. He didn't see where it landed, but Owen did. The Big Guy gasped as he saw where it landed. He ran forward and pushed Noah aside. The Brainiac grinned at what he had done, but it quickly faded once he turned around.

Since he wasn't looking, he hadn't seen that he had tossed the DVD and the case directly into the fire that Cowboys had just got going. Owen tried to grab it, but it was too far into the flames for Owen to reach. Quickly thinking, he grabbed a nearby bucket of water and threw it over the flames. They were quickly doused and Owen picked up the case. It was slightly melted and had burn holes on it. Owen opened it and pulled out the disc. Unfortunately, it also had burn marks and was slightly melted. Owen sighed in defeat, knowing he was too late.

But his gaze moved from the DVD towards something else. As if the DVD burning wasn't bad enough, Jasmine was now standing right next to Owen.

She had seen enough.

She looked at Owen, then to the melted DVD, then to the still in shock Noah and finally back to the DVD. Owen looked very guilty and felt terrible.

It only got worse when Jasmine developed tears in her eyes. She began crying, and ran straight towards her trailer, bawling. It was quiet for a few seconds

Noah watched Owen from his back. He had no idea what he was thinking because he couldn't see his face. Menacingly, the Big Guy put his hand down and dropped the DVD. Noah now felt very nervous. Owen turned around to show a very uncharacteristic look of sterness plastered on his face, which Noah had never seen before.

"Owen, I-"

"I am done with you." came the cold reply. Noah stepped back, shocked. Owen went on. "I am done with this stupid revenge plot that you have. I actually kinda like Jasmine. I saw the season she was in and I was really excited to meet her. Now she probably hates me because of you." He paused. Noah could practically feel the pent up anger in Owen's voice. "Back in our seasons, you at least had a sense of humor. You were never a bully."

"But I never won those seasons." Noah pointed out.

Owen had none of it. "What does being a big jerk have anything to do with winning a season?"

"Owen. Sometimes you have to be a jerk to-"

"That's a lie!" Owen shouted. Noah was caught off-guard "You're not trying to win, you're just being a bully. You make people feel ashamed by talking down to them. You made Jasmine feel so inferior about herself. Have you ever thought how constantly insulting her and bringing her down makes _her_ feel?" Noah didn't have a response. "I don't like bullies. And right now, you're the biggest one I've ever met." He turned and walked away. "And as far as you and I are concerned, you're no longer my little buddy!"

And he left, leaving Noah speechless. Gwen and Courtney had been sitting nearby and were shocked just as much. Noah stood for a few moments, before looking down. He had a very unsure look on his face.

At the elimination ceremony, all the Bobcats were seated. The giant Chris McLean statue had finally been fixed. Though it looked strange with the gray metal of the arm and part of the face clashing with the rest of the golden statue.

Alejandro was noticeably sitting away from Scott, Jo and Amy. Chris stood at the podium, looking at the team. "I hope everyone is ready for tonight's elimination because _I_ certainly am." He chuckled.

**Confessional (Zoey): **"Well...Alejandro asked me to vote for Jo, which I don't really understand. But, at the same time, he was the one who helped me figure out the issue with Mal...so I guess I owe him one."

**Confessional (Duncan): **"Alejandro wants me to vote for Jo." He paused, before laughing. "Yeah, like I'll do what he says." he said sarcastically

**Confessional (Dawn): **She looked very determined and bitter. "Jo. Must. Go."

**Confessional (Scott): **He cackled in his usual way. "Alejandro, you may have dug a grave too big for you to get out of."

Static.

The competitors each tapped their screens, casting their votes. Within seconds, the results were in. Chef, in a dress, came over with an envelope on the platter. Chris took it and opened it. Immediately he smirked. "Now for the elimination. We'll now be passing out the McLean statues. If you get one, you're safe. If not, you'll be taking a trip to the dark side courtesy of the Lame-o-sine." Some of the competitors looked nervous, especially Alejandro.

"The following people are safe…

Samey…

Duncan…

Zoey…

Amy…

Scott…

Dawn…"

That just left two. Jo and Alejandro. Chris paused, as usual, for dramatic effect. Alejandro was practically shaking in his seat. Jo didn't look too worried.

"The last statue goes to…"

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

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…

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…

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…

…

…

"Jo."

The Jockette grinned as she took the oncoming statue. She smirked at the shocked Latino. He stood up, unsure of what to do or say. But then he turned to his ex-teammates.

"Former teammates. You must listen to my warning, there is an alliance in our presence and I know who's part of it…"

"Like anyone would believe you." Duncan scoffed.

Alejandro was slightly caught off guard by this. "No, you must listen. I-"

Before he could say anything else, Chef grabbed the Latino and took him to the Lame-o-sine. He tried to say more, but the door closed once he was thrown in. It drove away into the night.

Chris looked at the camera. "First Heather, now her boyfriend. Both the finalists from World Tour are gone. This game just became very interesting. Can the Bobcats finally win a challenge? Will their losing streak continue? And, more importantly, will Duncan ever say something that doesn't piss off his ex-girlfriend? Find out, next time on Total...Drama...L...egends!"

Later that night, Macarthur and Sanders were heading into their trailer. The burly cadet had just walked in. Sanders was about to do the same, when something grabbed her and pulled her to the side. She was about to protest when she saw who grabbed her.

"Listen to me," Duncan whispered. "I need you to do something for me."

Sanders didn't say anything at first.

"I know I'll probably owe you twice for this, but I don't care." Duncan said, almost desperately

"What is it?" Sanders asked.

Duncan took a big sigh. "It's nothing big. I-" He paused. "I just need to talk to you. I really screwed up today and I really need to talk to someone about it."

Sanders looked confused. She wasn't sure what to say. But she did speak. "Ok, but why me?"

Duncan scratched the back of his head. "I-I...I think you're a really easy person to talk to. It's not something I find in most people. If you don't want to, then...don't."

Sanders went wide eyed, and blushed. That was the nicest thing the Ex-con had ever said to her. She wasn't sure how to react. But he looked at the desperate eyes of Duncan, and smiled.

"Sure. Go ahead."

Duncan gave a small smile, stepped back and began telling Sanders what happened today.

* * *

**I got this chapter done in just over a week! I'm so happy with how this turned out and I'm really looking forward to the next. Thanks for the reviews from the last chapter too. If you could, don't forget to leave a review for this one as well. I love hearing from you all. **

**Have a good one, and I'll see you next time.**

**Peace be with ya!**

* * *

****

Vengeful Bobcats: Amy, Samey, Duncan, Scott, Dawn, Zoey and Jo

Shark Cowboys: Gwen, Courtney, Macarthur, Sanders, Noah, Owen and Jasmine

Placement:

22nd: Sierra

21st: Lightning

20th: Tyler

19th: Leshawna

18th: Mike

17th: Cody

16th: Heather

15th: Alejandro

Votes

Alejandro: Scott, Amy, Jo, Duncan, Samey

Jo: Dawn, Zoey, Alejandro


	10. TM: Training Montage

**KirbyStar: Duncan and Dawn is an interesting duo that I'm glad you seem to enjoy. **

**Sirstupidity (Great name): Thank you. Honestly that review really made my day. **

**Infinity Wizard: Awesome review, as usual. I enjoyed writing the final act, so I'm glad you liked it. **

** .16: Not bad? NOT BAD?! More like, uh, amazing! (I'm obviously kidding, I hope you enjoy the rest of my chapters) **

**Knifez: Great to hear from you! I liked writing Heather and Alejandro, but I wasn't sure what else I could do with either of them. I hope you enjoy this chapter too.**

**Remember to leave a review of this chapter, and other ones, once you're done reading it. **

"Last time on Total Drama Acti...I mean Legends. On an abandoned film set, these competitors went all out in some epic Sci-fi challenges. Sanders impressed in both of her rounds, winning for her team in the end. Noah tasked Owen with doing his dirty work, which the Big Man did not enjoy. Owen finally realized that his 'little buddy' was just a 'big bully' and told him off. Not only that, but Noah turned his whole team against himself by tossing Jasmine's prize into a fire. On the other side, Duncan tried to fix his relationship with Gwen again. Unfortunately, it completely backfired in his face in a big way. No matter what he does, the dude just keeps digging his grave even deeper." Chris chuckled. "The Bobcats lost the challenge for the third time in a row and had to send someone home. And after his…'girlfriend' was eliminated last episode, Alejandro was deemed a liability by his own alliance and sent packing."

Chris walked onto the stage from the last challenge. "Heather's gone, Alejandro's gone, but Noah's still here. Maybe not for long though. Find out what his fate will be, right here, on Total...Drama...Legends!"

* * *

Duncan had been laying in his bed, thinking to himself. His interaction with Gwen and Courtney from the other day was still on his mind. It bothered him still, and he had no idea how he could fix it. But his conversation with Sanders from that night was also on his mind. It wasn't much of a talk though. All Duncan did was recap what happened, and Sanders would occasionally nod or add an unimportant comment. But the strangest part of it all, was that Duncan did feel better. He couldn't explain it, but he thought it was nice to have someone that listened to him. Even if it was a cop.

The Ex-Con looked at the other bed across from him. On the bottom bunk sat a very disheveled Noah. They were the only two in their trailer. The Brainiac just lay on his bed, looking at the top of the bunk. He had bags under his eyes and looked almost dead inside. He hadn't said a single word since Owen yelled at him and declared their friendship over. He barely got any sleep and hadn't even bothered to change into his pajamas.

Duncan looked at him, almost feeling pity for the guy. He finally decided to say something. "Are you just gonna lay there all day?"

Noah didn't respond or even acknowledge Duncan's existence. The Ex-Con continued to stare. Finally, Noah put both his hands on his face and rubbed his eyes. He sighed.

"I might as well," He mumbled. "My team hates me, so it probably doesn't even matter if I show up for today's challenge."

Duncan raised an eyebrow. "What exactly happened anyway?"

Noah moved his head to look at the Ex-Con and raised an eyebrow "How do you _not_ know?"

Duncan was so distracted by the redness in Noah's eyes that he didn't answer. The door opened to their trailer and Owen walked in. When he saw his green haired friend, he smiled. "Hey, Duncan."

Duncan looked confused. Owen didn't even acknowledge Noah when he walked in. He looked over at Noah, who was now sitting up. He wanted to say something, but couldn't find the words. The Ex-Con looked back at Owen. "I'm doing alright, Owen. All things considered." He mumbled that last part to himself.

Owen kept his smile. "Well I hope your day gets even better." With that, the Big Guy turned around and headed towards the door.

He didn't bother to say anything to Noah as he left. The Brainiac took a breath like he wanted to say something, but stopped. Owen walked out without any interruptions. Once he was gone, Noah sighed and went back to laying down. Duncan watched on, baffled by what just happened.

* * *

Jasmine was sitting on one of the beds, with her knees up to her chest and her arms wrapped around her legs. She looked miserable. After she witnessed her DVD getting burned and destroyed from last night, she ran into the trailer, crying her eyes out. Most of the girls spent the night trying to comfort the bawling Aussie. She had explained what happened to them and they took pity. She had run out of tears at this point, but was still very upset.

Everyone, except Jo and Amy, were in the girls trailer, trying to make Jasmine feel better. Gwen, who was sitting next to her, rubbed her hand across Jasmine's back.

Samey was standing across from her friend. She desperately wanted to comfort Jasmine, but had remembered their talk when they first arrived at the film lot. So in order to raise no suspicion, she didn't do anything.

"I'm so sorry that you had to go through that, Jazz." Gwen said, sympathetically.

"Thanks" came the glum reply. "But, it's my fault for not thinking something like that would happen. Especially with that _worm _being around." She gritted her teeth as she referenced Noah.

"Don't say that," Courtney, who was standing in front of Jasmine, spoke up. "You did nothing wrong. No one would have thought that Noah was capable of doing something like that."

"There is definitely a menace to his aura." Dawn spoke up, from an upper bunk.

The rest of the girls looked at her, with confused expressions. Zoey broke the silence.

"Honestly, I didn't think Owen would be part of something like that. He seemed like a nice guy. At least in season one."

"He's a nice guy," Macarthur added. "In fact he's an awesome guy, but he and Noah are tight. Like me and Courtney."

Courtney rolled her eyes at this.

"Regardless," Sanders said, "next chance we get, we're voting out Noah. No question."

Gwen and Courtney looked at the cadet and nodded. Jasmine looked up slightly, and gave a small smile. All eyes shifted over to Macarthur, who seemed to still be processing her answer.

"Well...I mean the show needs as much drama as possible and with this whole Noah turning evil thing going on, I think that-" She stopped herself, when she noticed all the glares directed her way. She quickly changed her tone. "Oh, yeah definitely. Noah's going next."

Jasmine looked up at everyone and smiled. "Thanks, mates." she said quietly.

* * *

Just outside the girls trailer, Amy and Jo were talking to each other.

"Now with Alejandro gone, you're the only one I can trust." Jo said

Amy was slightly surprised by this. "What about Scott?"

The Jockette narrowed her eyes. "I never trusted him to begin with. But he's useful to us. At least for now." She paused, considering her next choice of words. Amy waited for a response. She finally got one. Jo looked at the Twin. "Who do you think we should eliminate?"

Amy was taken aback. She didn't think Jo would ever ask that to her. She pretended to think of something. She then looked back and smiled devilishly.

"I think my sister should be the one going home next."

Jo didn't respond at first. In truth, she thought eliminating Duncan or Zoey next would make more sense. But she also knew how much Amy wanted to get rid of Samey, and how trustworthy she was becoming. She looked down at her alliance teammate and shrugged. "Fine. Next ceremony, we'll vote off your sister."

Amy was stunned that Jo had actually listened to her. She grinned again as Jo walked away.

**Confessional (Amy): **She cackled out a laugh. "I can't believe it. I'm playing Jo like a...like a…" she tried gathering her thoughts. "I don't know...what's the fancy version of a violin called?"

Static

* * *

Zoey had just exited her trailer. She looked up and saw Duncan, sitting on a picnic table. She perked up and walked up to him. "Hey" she called. Duncan looked up. Once Zoey was in front of her teammate, she remembered just how much Duncan had been through. "How are you holding up?" She carefully asked

Duncan sighed, and looked down. "I've been better. Yesterday's...mistake is something I'm trying to forget. Hopefully I can still make up for it."

Zoey gave a sympathetic smile, happy to see Duncan being so optimistic. However, she sighed and gave a downcast look. "Duncan...I think you need to take a break." The Ex-Con looked up, surprised by what she meant. Zoey went on. "So far, everything you've done, whether you listened to me or not, has resulted in disaster."

The stubborn bad boy crossed his arms. "Not everything was bad." he mumbled.

Zoey raised an eyebrow and started counting with her fingers. "So far you've slammed Gwen's face into a metal floor, given her an exploding watermelon, you said she looked like an angel (which was cute, but probably inappropriate) and you insulted her friend in front of her face."

Duncan didn't look at Zoey. He didn't want to believe what Zoey said, but she made a good point. So far, nothing had gone in Duncan's favor, and the thing that almost did work, failed dramatically in the end. Reluctantly, he looked up at his teammate. "Fine. I'll stop trying to get back with Gwen." He paused, and pointed at Zoey. "For now."

Zoey smiled and gave him a pat on the arm. Duncan rolled his eyes, but returned the smile. But his thoughts then trailed off. He was staring at something. Zoey noticed this and turned to the direction he was looking.

Scott was walking out from behind the guys trailer. He had a mischievous look on his face. It quickly changed when he saw that Zoey and Duncan were looking at him. Trying not to raise suspicion, he idled himself next to the two.

"How's it going, teamies?" he said, slyly.

Zoey raised an eyebrow at him, while Duncan remained stone faced.

"What were you doing back there?" The Ex-con asked bluntly.

"Oh you know, just getting away from all the drama. Stretching the legs. Trying to get out more, ya know?" The Redhead and the Ex-con weren't convinced. Scott figured the same thing and decided to walk away. "Just stay out of my way, and both of you will have nothing to worry about."

The two looked at eachother. They were thinking of going to the spot that Scott came from, when…

"Attention, competitors." Chris' voice boomed over the intercom. Zoey and Duncan looked up. "I need everyone on the blacktop in five minutes. We're about to start today's challenge. I hope everyone brings their A-game because this will be the last day before we switch the genre again." The intercom went silent.

Zoey and Duncan looked back at each other. They both shrugged and headed towards the challenge destination. Some of the other competitors were exiting the trailers too. Except one.

**Confessional (Duncan): **"Don't think I trust that Farmer Boy for one second. He's hiding something." He paused, thinking. "But I think it's better that I keep my distance with him. At least until I catch him off guard."

Static

* * *

Pretty soon, the competitors were gathered around the blacktop entrance. But, this time, Chris and Chef weren't there. The competitors looked around, confused. The challenge set was ready, but no one was there.

"Where are those bozos?" Jo asked

"Probably getting ready to surprise us with some ridiculous entrance." Gwen quipped

"What dress do you think Chef will be wearing this time?" Owen added

The Goth and the Big Guy shared a laugh, then a high five.

**Confessional (Gwen): **"I'm really glad Owen stood up for himself. He deserves way better than that toxic worm."

Static

Duncan looked over at Gwen in his 'totally not creepy way.' But then he remembered his talk with Zoey and thought better of it. He looked in a different direction. Problem was his gaze landed on Sanders, who was _already_ staring at the Bad Boy. Quickly, the two went wide eyed and looked at the ground.

Off in the distance, trumpet music could be heard. The competitors looked around, wondering where the source was coming from. It sounded like it was getting closer. Everyone kept looking in all directions, until Samey noticed something.

"Look" she said, pointing in the direction of the storage buildings.

Everyone turned and were surprised by what they saw.

In the distance, Chris and Chef were jogging towards them. Chris was wearing a grey sweatshirt and grey sweatpants, as well as a headband. Chef was behind him, wearing red boxing gloves, no shirt, candian flag boxing shorts and boots. An intern was running next to them, trying to keep up, raising a boombox over his head. Chris punched at the air as he ran. When he finally reached the competitors, he raised his fists in the air and jumped around, like he was celebrating. The competitors couldn't believe it.

Chef stood to the side, with the heavy breathing intern, who shut off the music. When Chris finished jumping, he faced the competitors and unzipped his sweatshirt, revealing his usual getup.

"I hope you're ready for today's challenge, competitors." He announced. "Because this game is gonna make you crap lightning and barf thunder." He paused, realizing he may have said it wrong. He shook it off. "Today's challenge will focus on the classic sports movie clique of the training montage!" The competitors weren't very interested, or at least weren't showing it.

"Now then, let's-" His enthusiastic attitude changed to annoyance. He looked at the Shark Cowboys. "This is the third time with you guys. Keep better track of your teammates."

The Shark Cowboys were confused.

"But we're already here," Macarthur noted. Sanders waved to make sure Chris saw her too.

The Host pinched his nose. "I'm not talking about you two. I'm talking about-"

Chef tapped Chris on the arm. The host looked at him, then to where Chef was pointing. Chris smiled.

"Ah, there's everyone's favorite buzzkill."

Noah had finally gotten out of bed. Well, not under his own power. Two interns, one who was blonde and fairly buff, wearing a white tank top and another skinnier black haired one, were lifting the Brainiac by his armpits and had taken him to the challenge location. Noah had an absolute dead expression on his face. He didn't even care that his feet weren't even on the ground. The intern dropped him on his feet and Noah slunked over towards his team. He was met with angry glares. Owen, on the other hand, seemed to show sympathy, but didn't say anything.

Chris went on and showed the challenge. "This challenge is called The Relay Rumble! This will consist of three team challenges." He eyed the competitors. "So for this game, since we have seven people on both teams, three people will compete in the first challenge, and two teams will play the second and third, respectively. Once you pass the first challenge, you must run to the second challenge and, once you complete that, well...you know. If you beat the third challenge, you'll have won the game."

The competitors looked at each other, wondering what the challenges would be.

"The first challenge will be...the Speed Bag." The set up was a simple speed bag attached to two poles. "Three competitors must consistently punch the speed bag for thirty seconds each. If it stops, then you'll have to start over. Finish that challenge and you'll go to...The Pushups Challenge." The setup was just a yellow circle. "Two players have the option of both doing 30 one-handed pushups without stopping or thirty pushups, with one of you on the other's back." Jo seemed to like this idea. Owen wasn't as sure.

**Confessional (Owen): **He sighed. "Believe it or not, I can't really do a lot of pushups." He paused and smiled. "Now if the challenge was eating C'_up_'cakes, then we'd have no issue." He giggled at his attempt at a pun.

Static.

Chris pointed to the last challenge. It was a homemade wooden fence that stretched about 10 feet. There was a long pile of dirt under it that was clearly dug up from somewhere else. "The final challenge will be...Paint the Fence. The goal is to...well...paint the fence." He chuckled. "Once that's done, you'll win and your team will be safe from elimination. The losing team sends someone home." He looked at the Bobcats. "You guys must be nervous. You gonna continue the losing streak?" He laughed, while the Bobcats looked unsure, but determined. "Now that that's settled. Everyone get to your places."

* * *

Macarthur was pumped. She did some ghost boxing, getting ready for her challenge: The Speed Bag. Gwen watched her, impressed by her commitment. But her face frowned when she looked at the other person competing.

Noah.

The Brainiac did not look like he was ready to do anything, let alone punch the speed bag. Gwen glared at him, as Macarthur walked up.

"You guys ready? How do you wanna do the order?"

Gwen didn't look away from Noah. "I think Wormy, over here, should get it over with first, that way..." She looked at Macarthur "...the two of us can get through it easier and move to the next challenge." Macarthur nodded and the two slapped hands together. Noah watched on, still visibly weary.

**Confessional (Noah): **"What answers do you want? I just got called out by my...now ex-best friend on national TV. As far as I'm concerned, I can't possibly sink any lower."

Static.

* * *

Scott watched from the other side. He had seen the Cowboys and how they were shaping up to be. He grinned and turned to his other teammates.

"I think we've got this in the bag."

Samey and Zoey looked at him. Samey gave a nervous smile, but Zoey was in thought. She was still thinking about Scott's mysterious actions from earlier today. But she figured it wasn't a good idea to talk about it now.

Samey's gaze darted between her two teammates. She looked antsy. "So um…" Both Scott and Zoey suddenly turned their heads in her direction, which startled Samey. She regained her composure though. "...which order do...you guys want to do the speed bag...because I'm fine with going...whenever...just wanna check with you guys." She gave an awkward smile, and an even more awkward thumbs up.

Zoey and Scott just looked at each other, confused.

* * *

Owen stood next to a fairly long wooden fence. He nervously looked over at his partner. Of all the people Owen could've possibly been paired with, Chris, of course, paired him with Jasmine.

The Aussie looked away from the Big Guy, arms crossed. She was pretending Owen wasn't there. And Owen understood her bitterness towards him. But at the same time, he wanted to make amends with her.

"Listen...Jasmine..." He started, but that was as far as he got.

"Just focus on the challenge and don't talk to me." Came the abrupt reply.

Owen blinked. He thought of saying something else, but he didn't think it was a good time.

* * *

Back the first challenge location, Chris was about to signal the start. Scott, Samey and Zoey readied themselves. Gwen and Macarthur did the same. Noah...just stood with his hands in his pockets.

"Alright, competitors...the challenge begins...NOW!"

Zoey immediately started rapidly punching the speed bag. A timer started on the top of the structure and counted down from thirty. Scott and Samey eagerly waited for her to finish.

Noah hadn't started. He simply stared at the bag, with an emotionless expression.

"What are you doing?!" cried Gwen

"Punch it!" Macarthur added

Noah kept staring, until raising a fist and giving the speed bag an unenthusiastic punch. It swung, and the counter went from 30 to 29. Gwen and Macarthur waited for more, but nothing happened. Noah simply gave up after the first punch and the counter went back to 30. The Cadet and the Goth looked at each other, realizing their situation.

* * *

Jo watched with interest, as she saw her team doing the challenge. But she couldn't help but notice the glare she was receiving from behind her. Annoyed, she turned around and looked down.

"What?" she said, coldly.

Dawn glared back at the Jockette. "I think you know why I'm upset." Dawn firmly replied.

Jo rolled her eyes. "Hey, I had no idea what...vileness was inside Heather's...aroma."

"It's aura," Dawn raised her voice. "And you only did that so you could get rid of her. You didn't care in any way how it affected me."

Jo smirked. "Well shouldn't you be happy you don't have to be around that she-devil anymore?"

Dawn continued to glare, but didn't say anything. After a few moments, her glare faltered into a look of sadness. Jo noticed this, and groaned. She turned back around.

"Ok fine, as long as it gets you to shut up, I'm sorry. I didn't think about how it would affect you and I'm sorry for that." She said this as blandly and unsympathetically as she possibly could.

Dawn went back to glaring, but when she realized that Jo's 'apology' was probably the best she was getting, she decided not to dwell on it any further. She took a deep breath and exhaled. Jo rolled her eyes once again.

**Confessional (Jo): **She slammed her hands on the table. "Don't think that meant anything. As the _leader_ of this team, I need everyone to focus. Dawn might not be that strong, but she's useful. I need her around if we want to win this."

Static

* * *

Sanders and Courtney watched the punching challenge from the yellow circle. Macarthur was holding Noah's arms from behind and, like a puppet, making him punch the speed bag. The Brainiac didn't seem to care about being used like a ragdoll. Sanders couldn't help but laugh. Courtney eyed her.

"I don't know what you find so funny. Because of him, we're probably gonna lose this." Sanders rolled her eyes, but Courtney wasn't done. "I'm just surprised your partner is actually trying to win this."

Sanders stopped laughing and turned to Courtney, annoyed. "What's that supposed to mean?"

Courtney shrugged. "I'm just saying that your partner causes a lot more harm than good." She cringed and held her head. "I'm still feeling dizzy from the Sci-fi challenge."

Sanders put her fists to her hips. "Ok, Macarthur might be…" She paused and looked to the partner in question. Macarthur was yelling at the now unresponsive Noah, who had slunked down onto the ground, still not caring about anything. Sanders looked back at Courtney. "Ok, she can be very reckless." She admitted, leading to Courtney's smirk. "But, when it comes to the game, Macarthur gives it her all. Remember the tiebreaker from the roller derby challenge, or how she jumped over the entire first section of the challenge back in, L.A."

Courtney didn't respond. Sanders just nodded and turned back to watching their team. **Confessional (Sanders): **"No way am I letting anyone talk bad about my partner behind her back. After getting my arm broken because of her, the only one who gets to talk smack about her...is me."

Static

* * *

Scott was the last to go for his challenge. The counter was going down, as he rapidly punched the speed bag. Macarthur watched this, in a panic. She turned back to her teammates. Noah was standing up, but still hadn't bothered to do anything.

"Ok" she said to Gwen. "We're falling behind, but I think if we do the challenge first, then Noah can finish it."

"If he actually does it." Gwen looked at Noah.

The Brainiac looked back at the glares he was receiving and sighed. "Fine. I'll do it. Might as well go out swinging."

Gwen lined up to the speed bag, with Macarthur behind her, and started punching. The counter started going down. But at that moment, a buzzer went off near them. Macarthur turned to see the Vengeful Bobcats running towards the next challenge. She was starting to panic, but eagerly awaited the speed bag. After a short bit of time, Gwen finished and Macarthur immediately went into it, nailing the bag with punch after punch. The thirty seconds flew by, and Noah stood next to it. This time, he was actually trying.

"30...29...28…"

It wasn't much, and Noah's expression hadn't changed. He was still thinking about what Owen said to him.

"25...24...23.."

Noah cringed, thinking about the words that Owen left him. _No longer my little buddy_.

"20...19...18"

_You made Jasmine feel so inferior about herself _

"16...17...15..."

Noah shut his eyes, trying to ignore the voices. Some of his punches missed the bag. Gwen and Macarthur were confused.

"13...12...11…"

Now the two onlookers were wondering if Noah could actually do it. But The Brainiac wasn't fully concentrating. He was too angry, too upset and too miserable. His punches got more and more aggressive. Finally, he had enough. He pulled back and smacked the bag with one big punch. But then he stopped back.

The counter ticked down. "4...3...2…" Macarthur and Gwen watched with bated breath.

"30." The counter restarted. No buzzer. No celebration. The two other Cowboys were gobsmacked.

"What was that? You had it." Cried Macarthur.

"I don't care." Came the bitter reply. Noah stepped back and sat on the ground. Gwen and the Cadet looked at eachother. Now what?

* * *

Owen and Jasmine still hadn't said a word to each other. Owen just stood there, twiddling his thumbs. He wanted to say something, but wasn't sure what to say. Or how to say it. He looked at the Aussie, who still had her back to him.

But, at this point, Owen figured he didn't have much to lose, so he took a deep breath.

"Jasmine, I just wanted to say…"

Jasmine turned, looking annoyed, she was about to shout something at Owen, when…

"I'm sorry."

The Aussie froze. Owen waited for her to make a move. Thankfully for him, she didn't. Owen figured it was safe to continue.

"I'm sorry about what happened to you and the DVD. I'm sorry for how Noah has been treating you, and I'm sorry I didn't say anything earlier." He turned away. "I don't want to be friends with Noah if he's gonna act that way." He paused, considering his next words. Hesitantly, he turned back to face Jasmine. "Honestly, I was really looking forward to meeting you after I saw your season. You and Shawn were...really cool." He grinned. "Ya know? I know a few things about being a survivalist…" He chuckled, but stopped when he noticed Jasmine's expression.

She didn't look angry. More like, she was processing something. Owen held his breath, really hoping he could lighten the mood. The Aussie sighed and, to Owen's delight, smiled.

"It's alright, Owen." She paused, thinking of what else to say. She laughed. "I remember how you kept calling yourself 'the naturalist.' I thought it was...pretty cool."

Owen's smile widened, as Jasmine went on. "You and Izzy were also my favorite couple from that season."

Owen smirked, relieved to have gotten on Jasmine's good side. The two continued talking.

* * *

Duncan and Amy stood next to their fence. Neither had said a word to each other. They just stood in silence, waiting for their teammates.

Duncan eventually turned to the Twin. Amy realized he was staring at her, and looked back at him.

The Ex-Con nodded. "Sup."

Amy wasn't sure how to respond at first. But decided to return the nod. "Hey." she responded.

Then Duncan went back to staring out into the distance, as did Amy.

Neither said anything else to each other after that.

* * *

At this point, Macarthur was slamming Noah's head repeatedly against the speed bag. Like before, the Brainiac didn't seem to care. Problem was, the counter wasn't going down. Eventually, The Cadet gave up. Noah turned and sat back down.

Chris walked up. "What is going on over here? Why are you guys so far behind?"

Gwen looked annoyed. "Blame him." She pointed at Noah.

Chris smirked and walked up to Noah. "Finally realized what it's like to be the most hated person on the show, eh?" Noah didn't respond, so Chris continued. "In any case, I'll give you a chance. Noah, if you do this challenge, then you'll be able to move on."

Gwen interjected. "Why can't either of us do it?"

Chris raised his hand up. "Because I want to see Noah do it. I've already seen both of you go through it. So it's all up to Mr No Friends, over here."

Noah still didn't respond. Chris walked away, leaving Macarthur and Gwen to think about their chances of winning.

* * *

"13...14...14…16..."

Scott, Samey and Zoey had just made it over and were watching the pushup challenge. Since the competitors had two ways to complete the challenge, Jo had decided to do the pushups...with Dawn on her back. At first, The Jockette had no issue with it, but as she went on, she started to strain.

"...17...18...how much do you weigh?...19..." she panted.

Dawn didn't respond, as she sat, lotus position, on Jo. When she realized she wasn't getting an answer, The Jockette went back to focusing on her pushups.

**Confessional (Jo): **She looked annoyed, and sighed. "Ok. I guess that's what I deserve after scarring That...Weirdo. Or whatever."

Static

* * *

Back at the Speed Bag challenge, nothing was happening. Gwen was holding her head, trying to think of a way to fix anything. Macarthur was pacing around. Noah was still sitting down, his arms wrapped around his knees. After a while, Macarthur finally stopped pacing and raised her arms in an annoyed manner.

"Well, there goes our winning streak." she groaned.

Gwen looked back at Noah. "I don't really see the big deal. Now we have the chance to eliminate him."

Macarthur nodded in agreement. Noah sighed.

**Confessional (Noah): **"I thought I could get further if I stopped focusing on making friends. I thought having an edge would give me a better shot at winning." He gave an uncomfortable pause. "Turns out, I'm a loser either way."

Static

"I can't believe someone like him would actually land a girlfriend." Gwen noted. Noah slightly looked up at this. Macarthur nodded and added…

"_If_ he still has a girlfriend after this."

Suddenly, Noah's head shot up. Gwen and Macarthur were surprised at this, and waited for something to happen. Slowly, as if he was being possessed, Noah stood up. He didn't move a muscle. His two teammates looked on. Had Noah gotten his second wind? Were they about to finally complete this challenge? Could they turn the whole thing around and win the entire thing?

No.

At that moment, without a word, Noah bolted away in the direction of the other challenges. Gwen and Macarthur had no time to stop him. Chris had just walked in. He watched the Brainiac run away. He turned to the other two.

"Did he finally do the challenge?" he asked.

Macarthur and Gwen did not have an answer.

* * *

Courtney and Sanders were sitting around, wondering what was taking their teammates so long. Dawn and Jo had already finished their challenge and went on to the next. After a few more seconds of waiting, they heard running steps coming their way.

"Well it's about time…" Courtney started, standing up. She turned and noticed Noah running towards her. "Maybe we can actually-"

Noah ran right past the two. Both turned and watched Noah run towards the last challenge area. Both looked at eachother, unsure of what to say.

* * *

Noah, who had never run a mile in his life, was getting tired. But despite that, he kept moving. He needed to do something. Something really important. He finally came to a stop, and tried to catch his breath. He looked up, slightly surprised by what he saw.

Owen and Jasmine were talking and laughing. This surprised the Brainiac, but he also remembered how Owen had denounced him. Just seeing the two laughing with each other made him feel even worse.

After a few seconds, Owen finally noticed that Noah was there. He stopped laughing immediately. Jasmine noticed him too, and stopped laughing as well, instead choosing to glare.

Noah was still trying to catch his breath. "I wanted to say something...just give me a second for...my lungs to recover."

Owen gave a look of pity. "Noah, I don't know what you're doing but-"

"I'm sorry!" Noah shouted, catching the Aussie and the Big Guy off guard. "I'm sorry for everything I've done. The way I've acted, the things I've said. When I signed up for this season, I thought I could actually win it, if I...if I acted like a jerk." He paused, letting Owen think about what he was saying. "And…" He practically choked at what he was going to say next. "And I thought about Emma and what she would think of me. I don't want to lose her, and I don't want to lose you, Owen. Not for something like this." The Big Guy had no idea what to say, so Noah turned to Jasmine. He sighed. "And I'm sorry for what I've done and said to you too, Jasmine. You didn't deserve any of that, and I'm sorry. I know it's not much, but it's all I have right now."

Owen was left stunned, but Jasmine wasn't phased. She changed her look slightly, maybe in an effort to give Noah a chance, but otherwise, didn't look any less bitter. With another sigh, Noah looked up and gave a more confident look. "Now I'm gonna get our team back in this race."

He turned, confidently, he took a step. Then another. Then another. And he had just reached his fourth step, when…

"That's game!" shouted Chris.

Noah stopped suddenly. He turned to his left and was shocked to realize that Chris was right. Duncan and Amy had just finished painting their fence and their team was celebrating, finally breaking their losing streak. The Host looked over at the losing team.

"What took you guys so long?" He cackled and walked away. "I'll see you everyone tonight. I'm sure you'll have no issue deciding who to vote for."

Noah gulped and turned. The rest of his team had made their way over, not looking happy at their loss.

**Confessional (Noah): **"Probably should've made that apology speech a little earlier." He sighed. "Well at least I can finally say I outlasted Heather _and _Alejandro, so I guess that's something." He chuckled a little, but it quickly faded to another sad sigh.

Static

* * *

Later, at the craft service tent, Jasmine, Gwen, Macarthur, Courtney and Sanders were sitting at the table, chatting.

"So we all know who we're voting for, right?" Gwen asked.

Her fellow teammates nodded in agreement.

"He's going down." Sanders added.

The five of them were happy and confident, but were interrupted by someone walking in. Owen had just walked through the tent. Jasmine greeted him and pulled out the chair next to her.

"Hey, Big Man. Take a seat right here."

But Owen didn't take that seat. He didn't sit at all. He stood at the head of the table, with a serious expression on his face. The others were confused.

"Owen, are you alright?" asked Gwen

Owen didn't immediately respond, leaving his teammates even more confused. Finally he sighed.

"I need to talk to you guys about something." And he started to explain what he meant.

* * *

Later that night, Jo was hanging outside the trailers, waiting for someone. Eventually, that person showed up.

"Scott" she called.

Scott walked up to his teammate, wondering what she wanted.

"I need to ask something."

The Country Boy put his arms behind his head and nodded, signaling Jo to continue.

"After Alejandro's elimination, I need to know something." She paused. "Can I trust that you'll be loyal to the alliance, until the end?"

Scott blinked, then laughed. But he stopped when he noticed the sternness to Jo's face. But he kept a cheeky grin.

"Would I ever betray you, Jo?" He said, mischievously. Jo gave him a look. Scott then raised his hands up. "Kidding. Look, I'll be honest. I'm about as trustworthy as a snake in quicksand. But I'm not stupid. I know this alliance can take us to the finale. No way am I going to turn on you when there's so many…" he looked around at his teammates in both trailers. "...people that are smart enough to realize that I'm a threat. So, yes, you can trust me...for now, at least." He ended that last statement very ominously.

Jo glared at Scott, clearly mad that he implied that he would betray her. But, at the same time, it seemed like a very honest answer from the Farmer Boy. Without another word, she turned and headed into her trailer. Scott grinned.

**Confessional (Scott): **He didn't say anything for a bit. But he reached for something under the table. And he pulled out...The Chris McLean Invincibility statue. He laughed. "Of course, Jo doesn't trust me. _I_ wouldn't trust me. But that doesn't matter as long as I have _this_." He picked up the statue and held it for the camera. "Next chance I get...well, let's just say some things are gonna go wrong, and Jo is getting a one way ticket out of the game...courtesy of me. But right now, I gotta hide this thing again. Can't let anyone know that I have it on me."

Static.

* * *

At the elimination ceremony, it opened with the usual intro. Chris walked out onto the stage and grinned at the Shark Cowboys. Noah sat glumly at the bottom bench, away from the rest of his teammates. He was certain they were glaring at him, or smirking at the thought of him being eliminated.

But, they weren't doing either of those things.

Gwen, Courtney and the Cadets all cast unsure looks at Owen, who simply nodded as a response.

Chris started. "Well, I don't feel there's any need for me to drag this out any further...since we all know who's going home." He glanced at Noah, who rolled his eyes. "But we still must do what we usually do. Everyone, cast your votes."

Noah, Jasmine and Owen all tapped their devices quickly. The other four didn't look as certain, but eventually cast their votes too.

A hand reached out from off-screen with a letter. Chris grabbed it and started to open it. "Well, Noah, you might as well get moving now because I don't really see the point in-" At that moment, Chris opened the letter and had looked at the results. He completely froze. Noah had just stood up, and walked towards the waiting Lame-O-sine.

"Very funny, Chris. I get it. It's hilarious. I'm glad my world wide embarrassment makes you happy." He quipped sadly.

Chris finally broke out of his trance. "Not so fast, Noah." The Brainiac stopped and looked at the host. "According to the results, the person going home tonight is…"

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

"Owen."

At that announcement, Noah went wide eyed. "What!?" Chris turned the note, revealing that Owen had received five votes. "That's gotta be a glitch or something." He turned to his teammates. "There's no way you guys voted for Owen when you had the chance to vote for me….right?"

Noah watched his fellow Cowboys glance guilty expressions at each other. He couldn't believe it. He was about to say something, when Gwen spoke up.

"It wasn't our idea." she said, pointing at Owen.

Noah looked at him, noticing his smiling expression, as he walked down the bleachers.

"B-But why? Why would you do that? You were furious at what I did."

Owen kept his smile, as he walked up to the Brainiac. "You're right, I was." He looked back at his now ex-teammates. "But after what you did earlier today, I thought about something." His gaze landed on Jasmine, who was the only one who looked angry at what just happened. He then looked back at Noah. "I thought that after you apologized, that was the moment you realized what you were doing. And why it was wrong." He paused, leaving Noah even more baffled. "And I know you're not a villain, or a bully. So I wanted to give you a chance to redeem yourself. To your team. And to Jasmine. So I convinced them to vote for me."

Noah's mouth was still agape at what just happened. He didn't even react when Owen hugged him goodbye. He then proudly walked off, towards the Lame-o-sine, waving at the rest of his team. Noah watched him enter and be taken off, out of the game. He looked back at his teammates. Most didn't seem to care that Noah was still around. The Brainiac walked up to Jasmine.

"I know it probably doesn't mean much now, but I'm gonna do what Owen said. I'll make up for everything I did and said. I swear."

To Noah's surprise though, Jasmine scoffed and stood up. "Like I believe a word you say." She got right in Noah's face and pointed a finger at him. "I didn't vote for Owen. I voted for you. And I did that because I know he was just a pawn in your cruel game. As far as I'm concerned, _you _should be the one going home. Don't expect me to forgive you for anything you said. Next chance I get, you're out of this game."

With that, Jasmine walked off the bleachers, as did the rest of the team, leaving Noah to think about what he was gonna do now. He had a lot of work to do.

Meanwhile, Chris looked at the camera, still gobsmacked by what just happened. "Talk about an eventful elimination ceremony. Owen's gone. Even I can't believe it. I don't know about you, but I wanna know what will happen...next time on...Total...Drama...L...egends!"

* * *

**Wow. Just wow. What did you guys think of this chapter, especially the ending? I absolutely loved writing this one and I'm really excited for the next. Owen actually wasn't my original plan to vote off. Originally, it was supposed to be Noah. But the more I thought about it, I didn't really have much else planned for Owen...until much later. Noah, at least, can continue his storyline with Jasmine, but in a much different direction. The challenge I have in mind for the next chapter should be fun to write. But another thrilling chapter comes to a conclusion. I'll see y'all next time...whenever that will be.**

**Peace be with ya.**

**Also if anyone's curious, the chapter title is a reference to the movie A.I. Artificial Intelligence.**

* * *

Vengeful Bobcats: Amy, Samey, Duncan, Scott, Dawn, Zoey and Jo

Shark Cowboys: Gwen, Courtney, Macarthur, Sanders, Noah and Jasmine

Placement:

22nd: Sierra

21st: Lightning

20th: Tyler

19th: Leshawna

18th: Mike

17th: Cody

16th: Heather

15th: Alejandro

14th: Owen

Votes:

Owen: Gwen, Courtney, Sanders, Macarthur, Owen

Noah: Noah, Jasmine


	11. Splash and Burn

**Just wanted to say a quick THANK YOU to everyone that left a review from Chapter 10. Remember to leave a review for this chapter once you're done reading it. **

* * *

**Kirbystar: Thank you. I'm really happy you liked the elimination ceremony. It wasn't what I had originally planned, but I'm glad I went with this one **

**SirStupidity: You're putting a lot of pressure on me to succeed. I just hope this chapter can top your review from the last one.**

**Knifez: To anyone else reading this. Go check out Total Drama Generations. It's an amazing series that definitely deserves a read through. Knifez is an incredible writer. **

**CMR Rosa: Thanks for the ideas. And I'm glad you like my story so far. **

**Infinity Wizard: Once again, another well written review. I really appreciate you putting the time and effort to review each of my chapters. **

* * *

The McPlane was landing near Kichi Island, as Chris did his recap. "Last time on Total Drama Legends. 14 competitors competed in a cataclysmic course of chaos. Well, I _would_ say that if one of the competitors didn't get stuck on the first challenge. You see, 'no friends' Noah really didn't have his head in the game. No matter what he did, the guy kept bombing every time he stepped up, leading to the Vengeful Bobcats taking a massive lead, and the win. Noah was able to get on Owen's good side, but his days, or rather hours, seemed numbered. That is, until Owen did the unthinkable and convinced the rest of his team to vote out...wait for it...himself! What a dunce!"

Chris walked out of the back exit of the McPlane. "I mean who throws away 5 million dollars, just so someone else can learn their lesson. I've got a lesson for him: If you have the choice to win a butt ton of money or walk away...take the option that makes you richer." He paused and smiled. "We're back on the Island. That means we're bringing the pain. And so will these competitors, when they compete in one heck of a challenge that we have in store for them." He followed this up with some ominous chuckling. "Chef is _especially_ excited for this one. Get ready because this...is Total...Drama...L...egends!"

* * *

All the competitors were gathered at the mess hall, both teams sitting at different tables. The Vengeful Bobcats were quietly celebrating their win. Since this was their first win in a while, they were very excited about it.

"Alright, team." Jo announced. "We might have won yesterday so we need to be ready for today's challenge."

Most of the team rolled their eyes.

"We got it, _almighty leader_." Duncan quipped. Zoey giggled at this.

Jo glared at the two, and was about to say something, when…

"I think you guys could learn a few things, being around Jo." Amy cut it. "She's done a lot for us. She's gotten out the dead weight of the group, and made our team practically unstoppable now." She then turned her head towards her sister, and scoffed. "Well, except Spare-amy."

Samey just rolled her eyes and continued eating her breakfast. Jo looked impressed at the Twin's support. Scott, on the other hand, eyed Amy with suspicion.

**Confessional (Scott): **"Amy is really chummy with our _grand leader _Jo." He pondered for a bit, then smirked. "I wouldn't be me if I didn't use that to benefit myself."

Static

* * *

On the other side, the Shark Cowboys were...tense, to say the least. Morale was definitely down with Owen gone. Jasmine sat at the head of the table, trying to hide her bitterness. But whenever she looked up, she saw Noah sitting at the table too, looking very apologetic, which would just make her angrier. She angrily crunched on her burnt toast.

Gwen, Courtney and Sanders awkwardly stared between the two. Macarthur, on the other hand, was down in the dumps. She glumly poked her scrambled eggs with a fork. Gwen noticed this and, desperate to ease the tension, turned to her.

"How are you feeling, Macarthur?"

The Burly cadet sighed. "It's a shame we had to drop the Big Guy like that. I wish he could've stayed until the merge."

"You and me both." The Aussie coldly replied, now staring directly at Noah. He sighed.

"I already said I was sorry." He said. "I know you're mad, but you should still give me a chance to-"

Jasmine suddenly stood up and pointed directly at the Brainiac. "Why should I give you a chance? You did nothing but ridicule me and..." She choked on her words, possibly trying to hold back tears. "...forget it, you're not worth it."

Noah blinked at this. The rest of the team tried to act like the whole thing wasn't as awkward as it was.

* * *

Duncan stood up, not really caring about the situation at the Cowboys table.

"I'm going to the bathroom." He said, to no one in particular. He turned and walked out.

Sanders, catching a glimpse of him, desperately wanted to get out of her table's situation. So she stood up and, without a word, walked to the door. Gwen and Courtney were the only ones who noticed this, and looked at each other in suspicion.

She opened the door and saw Duncan heading towards the communal bathroom. Sanders headed towards the same direction, trying not to look suspicious. She tiptoed a bit towards him, careful of the steps she took.

She looked up, and froze. Duncan had just stopped a few feet in front of the bathrooms. He wasn't moving. Sanders ducked behind a nearby bush and watched him. _What is he doing? _she thought.

After a few moments, Duncan turned to the right and started walking. Sanders was confused. She lost Duncan from her sight, and started moving forward. She walked to the same spot Duncan was standing and looked towards the direction he went. But to her surprise, the Ex-Con wasn't there anymore. Now Sanders was even more perplexed. She started walking down the path, having no idea where he could've gone to.

* * *

Noah poked at his remaining eggs, still thinking over his current situation. Jasmine had gone outside for some air, but Noah figured it was to get away from him. He looked up. Gwen and Courtney were still at the table, whispering to each other, occasionally giggling. Macarthur was still thinking about Owen. Noah thought of something. He had bad luck with Jasmine, so he figured that he could at least start small.

"Hey," he said, quietly to the two.

Gwen and Courtney stopped and turned to face the Brainiac. They looked more curious than annoyed, so Noah figured he had a chance.

He sighed. "Jasmine is really mad at me right now and...I don't blame her." He paused, looking at Gwen and Courtney's faces. He figured they were allowing him to continue. "And I really, _actually_, want to make things right with her. But I also wanted to say that I'm sorry, to both of you, for how I've been acting. I understand if you're still mad, but I...I don't want to be seen as the big jerk of this season anymore."

Courtney and Gwen stared, unsure of how to respond. Neither of them had many interactions with Noah since the first season. Finally, Gwen spoke first.

"What you were doing was really uncool of you, dude." Gwen said sternly. Noah looked down, depressed. But Gwen changed her tone. "However, I can tell you, at least, want to make things better between you two, and her issues with you aren't my business, so...fine. I'll forgive you. For now."

Courtney nodded in agreement, though somewhat coldly. Macarthur had finally looked up and spoke up. "You totally got the things for an awesome redemption story." She laughed.

Gwen and Courtney rolled their eyes, but Noah sighed in relief and gave a small smile. It didn't mean much, but he considered this a victory.

* * *

Sanders was still looking along the path, searching for the disappearing Ex-Con. She thought he could've gone back to the mess hall, when...

"Don't you need a search warrant for something like this?"

Sanders went wide eyed and turned. Within the trees stood the person Sanders was looking for. She gave a deer in the headlights look, as Duncan walked towards her. He looked somewhat amused. "You know, I figured your partner was more of the creepy stalker type, not you."

Sanders was about to reply, but realized how weirdly she was acting. Now she just looked embarrassed.

Duncan noticed this and crossed his arms. "What do you want?" He asked bluntly

Sanders rubbed her arm, slightly blushing. "I-I wanted to see how you were doing...since our talk a few nights ago…"

Duncan gave a slightly surprised look. He didn't say anything at first, which made Sanders curious. After a bit, he sighed, and rubbed the back of his head. "I...It actually helped a lot more than I was expecting." He said quietly. He then shrugged. "It was just nice to have someone to talk to about everything that's been going on." He paused. "So...thanks."

Sanders went wide eyed. She was not expecting that kind of response. At best, she thought she would get a 'whatever' or something on the same lines as that. But, no. Duncan gave a very...sympathetic response. She took a few moments to get back to her senses.

She cleared her throat. "Hey, no worries. I...If you ever want to talk again, just let me know."

Duncan didn't respond again for a few seconds, instead he did turn his head. Sanders couldn't tell, but it looked like he was trying to hold back a smile.

She gave a proper one though, and was about to say something when…

A high pitched noise from an intercom went off. The Cadet and the Ex-Con looked up to hear the sound of Chris' voice.

"Are you guys seriously gonna do this every time?" He sounded annoyed. "I mean is it too much to ask that _everyone _be in attendance for the challenge briefing. I mean geez..." Sanders and Duncan looked at each other, slightly amused by the Host's annoyance. Chris continued though. "Sanders and Duncan, wherever you two are, meet us at the dock in ten minutes. And bring your swimsuits. This challenge should be fun." The intercom went off after the ominous remark.

Duncan looked back at Sanders, and smirked. "Knowing Chris, 'fun' probably means we're gonna have to maim each other." Sanders chuckled. Duncan then pointed past her. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have to actually use the bathroom, I wasn't really planning on talking with you."

Sanders stepped aside, letting Duncan go to the communal bathroom. She smiled as he walked past, but then realized something.

**Confessional (Sanders): **She looked very unsure of herself. "Do...Do I...like Duncan?" She paused, thinking. "If that's the case, I'm not going to hear the end of it back at the station." She suddenly realized something else. "Oh god, I really hope my Chief doesn't watch this show."

Static

* * *

As per Chris's announcement, almost all the competitors were standing on the dock, all in their swimsuits. Duncan and Sanders were the last to arrive. They split to their respective teams, receiving awkward stares from their teammates. Thankfully for the two, Chris made his usual spiel.

"Now that everyone's here, I can announce today's challenge." He snapped his fingers. The competitors heard what sounded like several motors going off at once. A few seconds, and suddenly, six interns came out of nowhere, piloting six large motorboats in the water. The boats had bits of scrap metal nailed to their sides, and in other areas. There was a small domed area in the back, with two tubes sticking out from the front of them. The pilot area was also covered. The interns drove the boats towards the competitors, getting in formation, with three boats on one side and three on the other. They started getting out (one of them lost his balance and splashed into the water), as Chris began.

"I like to call this challenge..._Splash and Crash_!" Some competitors looked nervous at what the challenge enticed, but some were excited. Jo and Duncan both gave sinister grins. Chris continued. "As the name implies, this challenge won't be about speed, quickness or focus. No, this is all about smashing the crap out of each other." He laughed maniacally. Jo and Duncan were now even more excited. "The goal of this challenge is simple: flip over one player's boat and they're eliminated. Once three boats on one team are flipped, they lose." He pointed at said boats. "You'll notice every boat is equipped with a turret. The turret is filled with paint that is manned by another competitor. The pilot is responsible for flipping other boats, while also avoiding getting flipped themselves. Meanwhile the shooter, in the back, attempts to blind, or distract, the enemy boat with the supplied paint. Like I said, once all three boats on one team have been flipped, they'll be out and will have to send one player home tonight. And if at any point, the pilot gets stuck, or decides to give up, he or she can pull a lever that will release a white flag. That means you surrender and you'll be out of the challenge. And if any other boat hits the already surrendered boat, then they'll also be out."

Now most of the competitors looked a little less nervous and nodded to each other. Chris gave a maniacal grin. "And to make things interesting…" He snapped his fingers once again.

A loud horn sounded, startling the competitors. Suddenly, a much larger boat, four times the size of the competitor's boat appeared from behind some rocks. It looked like a small ferry, with a flat front and a ramp that dipped into the water. It was being manned by Chef, who pulled a chain. Immediately, the flat front opened up, like sharp teeth, and it quickly closed. It was like a monster chomping up its next victim.

The competitors now looked petrified. Chris just smirked.

"Try to avoid that." He laughed. Then he clapped his hands. "Now to go about choosing the pairs…"

Dawn suddenly stepped forward, looking angry. "Chris, this challenge is incredibly damaging to mother nature. You're practically dumping metal and paint into the ocean." She crossed her arms. "There is no way I would ever allow a challenge like this to happen."

Chris blinked, but smiled, soon after. "Good, because your team has seven competitors and I only need six." He pointed at the Moon Child. "So, _you_ will not have to participate. But that doesn't mean you'll be safe from possibly being eliminated." The Vengeful Bobcats glared at Dawn, but she didn't care.

"I can't allow this. You can't be allowed to continue with this barbaric challenge. I'll do something about it. I'll get all my animal brethren and-"

Chris snapped his fingers. Two interns suddenly appeared, with a straitjacket. They put it on Dawn, who didn't have time to react. They quickly snapped it into place, and Dawn could no longer move her arms. They quickly took her away from the dock, as she wriggled in defiance.

Chris looked back at the slightly scared competitors. "Now back to you guys. To decide who's going to be partnering with who, we're gonna do something a little different." He looked from one team to the other. "Cowboys, you'll be choosing the pairs for the Bobcats, and Bobcats, you'll be choosing for the Cowboys."

Noah gulped at this, and Jasmine didn't look happy either.

**Confessional (Noah): **"Well, knowing the other team, they're probably going to pick people that don't work well together." He sighed. "I think I know who I'm getting paired with."

**Confessional (Jasmine): **All she did was give a long, sad sigh, knowing exactly what would happen.

Static.

* * *

The Shark Cowboys huddled together.

Courtney started. "Alright team, I think we should-"

"We are _not_ putting Amy and Sammy on the same team." Jasmine said bluntly

The rest of her teammates looked at the Aussie.

"Why not?" Gwen asked

Jasmine was about to respond, but she realized that what she said may have been a bad choice. She continued anyways "Amy is so mean to Sammy. She shouldn't be paired with someone as toxic as her sister."

The rest of the Shark Cowboys looked at each other, then back at Jasmine.

"Well…" Courtney said "If they aren't gonna get along, then it makes more sense to put them in the same boat."

Sanders, Macarthur and Gwen nodded in agreement. Jasmine looked upset, but knew it was her own fault for bringing it up. _Samey's tough. _She said to herself _She can manage_.

"Well if Jasmine doesn't think it's a good idea," Noah cut in. "Then I don't think we should put them together. Honestly, Duncan or Jo would probably be a better choice since neither of them are very popular. With anyone" He gave a nervous chuckle, in an attempt to ease the tension. But he stopped, when he noticed Jasmine looking annoyed, purposely looking away at him.

**Confessional (Noah): **He scratched the back of his head. "I don't think sucking up is gonna work."

Static

* * *

After a few more minutes, the competitors were ready to choose. Chris first looked at the Shark Cowboys. "Alright, you gals and guy, choose the teams for the Vengeful Bobcats."

Courtney stepped forward. "The teams we choose are...Duncan and Scott...Jo and Zoey, and…" She looked back at Jasmine, who looked very guilty at what was going to happen. "Amy and...Samey."

At the announcement of this, Samey sighed in annoyance and looked up at Jasmine. The Aussie gave a very apologetic look. Samey wasn't mad though, and nodded back with a confident smile. Noah noticed this and was reminded of his first interaction with Jasmine, when he told her that her friendship, with Samey, would ruin their chances of winning.

Chris then looked at the Vengeful Bobcats and had them announce their teams.

Zoey stepped forward, in front of her grinning teammates. "Well, Chris. The Shark Cowboys teams will be...Sanders and Gwen...Courtney and Macarthur…"

The CIT gave a very fearful look, as the burly Cadet wrapped her arm around her new partner, laughing in excitement. Jasmine cringed, knowing exactly who that left.

"...And Jasmine and Noah."

Now it was Samey's turn to look sorry as she saw The Aussie groan in annoyance. Noah gave an understanding look to her.

Chris pointed to the boats. "Alright, let's get to it!"

* * *

Soon all the competitors were in their boats. The pilots were Jo, Duncan and Samey, for the Bobcats, and Noah, Sanders and Macarthur for the Cowboys.

Every player had a headset to communicate with their boating teammates. Noah sat at the front, waiting for the signal to start. He thought about Jasmine. His guilt was still lingering. He touched his headset.

"Jasmine," he spoke, "I know you're still mad at me and I really meant what I said yesterday. You never deserved any of what I put you through and...I don't want to be known as the bully of this season. So I hope you can forgive me." He released his hand and waited for a response.

He didn't get anything.

Noah pressed the button again. "Jasmine?" Still nothing. "Jasmine?"

He then heard a beep, followed by a…"My headset was off. Focus on the challenge. If we lose...you're the one who's going home."

After that bitter reply, Noah didn't feel very confident. But, at the same time, he knew Jasmine wanted to focus on the challenge, so he knew he had to do the same.

* * *

Jo readied herself in the doomed shooting area. She looked down at Zoey, who was familiarizing herself with the controls. The Jockette grinned.

**Confessional (Jo): **"Back in my first season, Redhead almost blew it for us during our boating challenge." She grinned and crossed her arms. "Luckily, she had me on the team to make sure we came away with the win. And I expect the same thing will happen this time." She smirked, but opened her eyes when she realized what she said. "Not the...blowing the challenge, the...me...being the reason we win."

Static.

* * *

On another Bobcat boat, Amy had been taunting her sister through the headset.

"A lot of pressure on you, Sis. You cost us the Sci-Fi challenge already, so I doubt you'll do good in this challenge either."

Now Samey pressed her headset. "But that wasn't my faul-"

Amy didn't let her finish. "Ah, there you go again, blaming someone else for your failures. Classic Samey."

She laughed, as her Sister gave a deadpan expression. She turned off her headset, silencing the cackling.

* * *

Soon Chris was at the center of the dock, standing in front of the six boats. He had a flare gun in hand, in the other was a megaphone. "When I pull the trigger on this flare, that's the cue to start. Got it?" All the competitors nodded in response. Chris grinned. "You'll have about five minutes until we release Chef, or whenever we feel like it, so y'all better be ready." The competitors readied themselves as Chris raised the gun. After a few more seconds of anticipation, Chris pulled the trigger and the challenge began.

Most of the competitors sped forwards towards the other boats. Others choose to avoid it and turn the other way. Macarthur steered her boat in between two of the Bobcat's boats, making the CIT, hold on tighter.

Scott turned around and menacingly aimed his gun, while Duncan looked for people to ram.

Sanders just managed to avoid being hit by Amy and Samey's boat.

Zoey sped away from some of the other boats, much to Jo's annoyance.

"Hey what are you doing? The Cowboys are the other way." She yelled at Zoey, through the headset.

"If we get involved too soon, we'll risk tipping the boat over and going out early." Zoey responded.

There was some silence in her headset. After a few moments, Jo responded.

"Good call, Red. Ya know I sometimes forgot that you're not as dumb as you look."

Jo gave a hearty chuckle, thinking Zoey would join in with her. But considering she just insulted her own teammate (And that it was Jo), Zoey wasn't sure how to take it.

* * *

Macarthur was completely focused on the competition. She effortlessly dodged the oncoming boats. Courtney aimed her turret, but didn't shoot at anything. Macarthur was moving too fast for her. She tapped her headset.

"Macarthur, can you please control this thing so I can shoot someone?"

Courtney was surprised when Macarthur started laughing. "I'm one step ahead of you, partner. I'm getting around everyone, so you have a clear shot. If we don't pick the right moment, we'll be sitting ducks."

Courtney froze. She was actually agreeing with the cadet. "Um...yeah, let's do that. G-Good plan."

Macarthur smirked as she dodged the oncoming paint shots.

**Confessional (Courtney): **"Wow. Maybe with Macarthur on our side, we can actually win this challenge. As long as her head's in the game, she might actually know what she's doing." Her impressed smirk changed to a more analytical look, like she immediately thought of something else after saying that.

Static

* * *

Samey was trying to concentrate on steering the boat, but Amy's constant bickering was very apparent.

"What are you doing? I can't get anyone if you're driving like this. Ugh, no wonder I was the first to get my license."

Samey breathed in, trying not to let her sister get to her.

Amy continued screaming through the headset "Watch where you're going!"

Samey finally had enough. "I am watching-"

Their boat suddenly got hit. Samey turned to see Noah and Jasmine's boat, slamming against them. Samey's headset was slightly obscured, but she fixed it quickly and readied herself.

* * *

"What are you doing?" Jasmine yelled through Noah's headset.

"I'm trying to win this challenge." He answered calmly.

"Well, why are you going after Samey?"

"She's on the other team."

Jasmine's gaze frowned. "You're just doing this to get me angry, so you'll have someone to blame."

Noah didn't know how to respond. He knew Jasmine and Samey were friends. And even though he wanted to win the challenge, he figured their chances would be better if Jasmine wasn't always angry at him.

"Fine." He said begrudgingly. He pulled the boat away, much to the Twins' confusion

* * *

Chris watched from the dock as the boats zoomed past each other. No one had been tipped and there had been very little contact with the other boats. He looked somewhat bored.

"If only I had a way to make things more interesting and carnage inducing." He said to no one in particular. Then he grinned. "Oh wait…" He pulled out a walkie talkie from his back pocket. "...I do." He spoke into the device. "Chef, it's hunting time."

A few moments later, a loud horn sounded out, and the giant catcher boat made its way into the battlefield. Chef cackled from inside as he went for his first target.

* * *

As soon as Jasmine and Noah had turned away, Amy had gone right back to belittling her sister. Samey had finally had enough and briefly let go of the controls. She quickly grabbed them again, but it was too late. She looked to her left in horror. There was Chef coming straight for their boat. Samey didn't have time to turn away, and Amy's paint blasts did nothing.

Chef pushed a button and the front hatch opened, again, like it was a monster opening it's sharp teeth.

The Twins screamed as they entered the mouth of the boat, before being engulfed in darkness. Chris spoke into his megaphone. "And the Twins have been eliminated, courtesy of Chef and his monster boat. The Bobcats are down by one, so the advantage goes to the Cowboys."

Noah looked back. He couldn't tell, but he figured Jasmine was upset over her friend being eliminated so early.

He hesitated before saying anything, but finally pressed his headset. "I'm...sorry your friend got taken out of the game."

He didn't receive a response.

* * *

Duncan and Scott were in a ramming contest with Courtney and Macarthur. The Cadet and the CIT had the other team on the ropes and wouldn't let them get away. Scott tried shooting to block Macarthur's vision, but since he was at the side, it was easier said than done.

The Country Boy pressed his headset. "Can't you go any faster?!" Duncan tried to speed up, but The rival Cowboys kept blocking them. Scott had another idea. "Why not stop the boat? We'll catch them off guard and get them again."

Duncan disagreed. "They'll catch up with us again before we start moving. This cop really knows what she's doing."

Scott was annoyed by this (or rather, he acted like he was. In reality, Scott didn't care if he won or lost), until he noticed something. Heading towards them, was another boat. It was Gwen and Sanders' boat. Duncan became increasingly worried when he saw this.

**Confessional (Duncan): **He slapped his forehead in frustration. "Of course we had to put my ex-girlfriend and the cadet who I might actually…" He looked around nervously, desperate to to think of a word. "...tolerate." He said quickly.

Static.

Scott grinned at this, as he tapped his headset. "This is perfect. Let them take us out of the challenge." Duncan was confused by this, but Scott went on. "They'll probably crash too, so that'll just leave Jo and Zoey to take out the rest. And if they don't, well...I guess we'll just send another piece of dead weight off our team."

Duncan gulped. He looked forward. Gwen and Sanders were getting closer and closer. Duncan could see that even Sanders was unsure about what she was doing. His hands shook as he held the controls. Finally his face turned stern and he did something. Much to Scott's surprise, Duncan pulled back, stopping suddenly. Macarthur and Courtney sped past them, as well as the oncoming Gwen and Sanders. Since Duncan had stopped so suddenly, his boat tilted slightly forwards. Sanders had no way to stop in time. She hit Duncan's boat and, instead of crashing into it, she slid over it like a ramp and went flying through the air.

Scott watched in amazement as the boat sailed over him.

Gwen and Sanders screamed in horror. And to make matters worse, they were heading towards Chef's boat. The door to his catcher boat was open and the two soared directly in it. The door closed, signaling the end to their run.

From a distance, Courtney watched on, devastated by what just happened. Her expression quickly soured. She tapped her headset. "Macarthur. We are going after Duncan and Scott. They can't get away with what they just did."

The Burly Cadet just grinned. "Let's do it!" She cheered.

But before they could turn, they were suddenly rammed by another boat. Jo and Zoey had finally joined the challenge. Courtney looked back at Chef's boat, with Gwen inside. But she knew that she had another challenger, so turned back and opened fire onto the Bobcat's boat.

* * *

Duncan and Scott had quickly turned their attention to the other Shark Cowboys team: Jasmine and Noah. The Brainiac was having trouble trying to avoid them and Jasmine was having just as much trouble aiming at them. Eventually Scott was briefly able to pull alongside them and open fire. Paint splattered across Jasmine's protecting glass. The Aussie couldn't see anything now. Suddenly they felt a bump and their boat started turning in another direction. Jasmine still had no idea what was going on. There was sudden impact and both Cowboys jolted. Duncan and Scott pulled their boat away and sped off. Jasmine couldn't see where they were, but Noah could. They were tilted, caught on two rocks, one flat and long, the other smaller but sharp. Noah tried moving the boat, but the rotor wasn't in the water. He groaned in annoyance and tapped his headset.

"We're stuck," he said dully.

"Well...get us out then." Came the blunt reply.

"I can't. Not from here. We're pretty much out of the water."

He heard a groan through his headset. "Fine. I'll get out and push us back into the water."

Noah waited, as he listened to Jasmine. He heard what sounded like struggling sounds, which confused him. The noises continued until he heard Jasmine's voice.

"My foot's stuck." she said, annoyed.

Noah didn't laugh, and instead realized the problem that could arise. "Do you want me to help? I'm small enough, I can probably get you out."

Noah didn't get a reply for a few moments. But finally, he received a sigh followed by a very dull, "Just make it quick."

Noah pushed the release button and his hatch opened. He unbuckled his strap and walked out. He scaled his boat to Jasmine's dome, but then his eyes caught something.

Scott and Duncan were going away from them, but they were just turning their boat. In Noah's direction. The Brainiac realized what would happen and tapped his headset.

"Jasmine, Duncan and Scott are gonna ram us since we aren't out yet." He panicked.

"Well, get me out then." came the reply.

"Open your hatch."

Noah heard a click, but nothing happened.

"It won't open." Jasmine replied. Noah looked back up at Duncan and Scott, they were getting closer and closer. Jasmine responded again. "You'll have to pull the hatch open."

But Noah didn't listen. "Jasmine, I'm going to pull the surrender flag."

"Don't you dare." Jasmine said firmly.

Noah remained undeterred. "Scott and Duncan are going to hit us, if we don't." He looked at the flat rock that Jasmine's dome was leaning towards. "And if they flip us, your dome is gonna hit the rocks."

"You're just saying that so we get eliminated!"

Noah snapped. "No! I'm saying this so you don't get hurt. I don't want that to happen. I never wanted that to happen! And right now, I need you to listen to me or we're both gonna get hurt because I'm not moving from this spot!"

He panted after his brief rant. He looked back up. Scott and Duncan were seconds away from ramming into them. Noah was in a deep state of panic, waiting for Jasmine's response.

Finally, he got one. "Fine. Do it."

Noah scrambled towards the pilot's seat and quickly pulled the lever. A pole shot out from behind the boat and unraveled a large white flag.

Duncan saw this and, remembering the rules, pulled away to avoid hitting them. The problem for him was that he didn't see what was to his left.

Chef's capture boat.

Duncan turned to avoid Noah and Jasmine, but ran right into the path of Chef. He had nowhere to go. He and Scott screamed as they slid into the open mouth of the boat, before the doors shut behind them.

Noah watched the entire situation. He couldn't help but give a small laugh. He then remembered his situation with Jasmine and moved to open her pod.

* * *

"With Noah's surrender, only two boats remain." Chris said to the camera. "Zoey and Jo for the Vengeful Bobcats, and Courtney and Macarthur for the Shark Cowboys. Who's gonna win it all?"

Most of the eliminated teams (except for Noah, Jasmine, Scott and Duncan) had gotten back to the dock. They all watched with interest. Sanders cheered loudly for her partner. Gwen looked at her and smiled. But it faded. She looked off, thinking about something.

* * *

Macarthur swerved her boat around. Now it was directly facing their remaining opponents. Jo glared at the cadet, which Macarthur returned. The Jockette had a very clear memory of losing the rollerblade tiebreaker challenge to the cadet and wanted to avenge her loss. Macarthur, on the other hand, did not want to lose for her team. She tapped her headset.

"Yo, Court. Ya ready?"

Courtney smirked and responded. "Yes. Let's do it."

Jo tapped her headset to talk with Zoey. "Make sure you get me in a good range to shoot them."

Zoey responded in agreement, and while she looked focused, she was very nervous.

Macarthur was the first to make a move, pushing forward aggressively. Jo told Zoey to do the same, which she did. Courtney aimed and fired her paint turret at their boat. Zoey was able to dodge a few shots, but some paint splattered across their boat. Thankfully, her vision wasn't blocked. The boats were seconds away from colliding before they both veered off in different directions.

Macarthur grinned, as if she had a plan, but it faded when she saw Chef's capture boat. She swerved again, barely avoiding the boat's grasp.

Jo watched from a distance, then she tapped her headset. "I've got an idea, Red. But it might be risky." Zoey nodded, now even more scared of what would happen.

Macarthur turned her boat around, making sure that Chef wasn't near. She had completely forgotten about Jo and Zoey, until they sped up next to her and started ramming their boat. Macarthur was happy to return it and give chase.

"Don't use your shots just yet." She said to Courtney. "I've got a plan." Courtney agreed, as Macarthur pulled back on the controls. They slowed down and the Cadet pulled herself right behind Jo and Zoey. She gave the command to fire and Courtney did so. Jo was facing their boat, and when she saw the oncoming paint shots, she turned her turret around, meaning the paint splattered the back of her dome.

"Keep going straight," Jo instructed Zoey. Zoey did so, but didn't agree with it. Directly in their path was Chef's boat, coming right for them.

Macarthur saw the boat too, and scoffed. "That's the oldest trick in the book, no way are they going to trick me."

The eliminated competitors watched with great interest and confusion. Jo grin widened as they neared the boat. Zoey was now petrified. Courtney looked worried and even Macarthur was getting nervous.

Suddenly, Jo turned her turret around to the Cowboy's boat. It took one second for Macarthur to realize what she was doing. Jo pushed her buttons and sent a barrage of paint directly towards the boat. Very quickly, Macarthur and Courtney's windows were covered and blocked with a large array of color. Macarthur was stunned for a second, but remembered where she was.

She grabbed the controls and pulled to the left. While Zoey and Jo barely avoided crashing into Chef's boat, the Cowboys weren't as lucky. Macarthur was able to avoid going directly into the mouth, but she couldn't get past the boat itself. Macarthur turned right into the sharp corner of the capture boat. The sudden impact sent their boat into the air, tipping forward. It landed back in the water upside down, and resurfaced. Which meant that…

"Macarthur and Courtney have been eliminated, which means the Vengeful Bobcats are the winners of the challenge." Chris announced. The team cheered as they watched Jo and Zoey spin in victory.

Macarthur and Courtney popped their heads above the water, and watched the Bobcat's boat take a victory lap. Zoey listened to Jo cheering in her headset and smiled.

**Confessional (Zoey): **"It's great that we won the challenge for our team. Jo's not a bad partner, as long as she isn't insulting you. We make a pretty good team." Her smile faded slightly, as she thought of her next words. "Do I ever want to team with her again?" She paused. "...no."

Static.

* * *

As the teams walked off the dock, Scott turned and stopped. He made sure Jo hadn't gotten back yet and hid behind a tree. As his teammates walked by, he reached out and pulled one of them towards him. Amy.

The Twin was more annoyed than surprised and was about to say something when…

"I want to make a deal with you," Scott said. Amy still looked annoyed, but didn't say anything. Scott went on and reached into his pocket. "I noticed how you and Jo like to spend so much time together, almost like you're plotting something." He paused, smirking. "So I just wanted to let you know where your loyalty _should _lie." With that, he pulled out what he was hiding. Amy went wide eyed and gasped at what she saw. The Chris McLean invincibility statue. She looked up the Country Boy.

"Where did you get that?"

Scott just grinned and put the statue back in his pocket. "Don't worry about that. What you do need to worry about is how long you're gonna last in this game." He paused again, letting Amy think about what he was saying. "Jo is fine and all, but she has never outlasted me in either of our seasons, and I don't intend for something different to happen. All I'm saying is...think about where your loyalties _should_ lie."

Once he was done, he walked towards the rest of the competitors, leaving Amy by herself. She thought about what Scott had said, but then looked at him and glared.

**Confessional (Scott): **He was holding the statue in his hand. "That little cheerleader is so naive. She needs someone like me to keep her safe." He paused and cackled. "At least until I decide to drop her."

**Confessional (Amy): **She didn't say anything. All she did was sit in the confessional and stare at the camera blankly. Then she gave a very devilish smirk towards it.

Static.

* * *

Noah was walking to his cabin. The loser cabin. He walked up to his door, stopped and sighed.

**Confessional (Noah): **"Well I guess the best thing about today is that I'll have the entire guys side to myself." He chuckled, but it quickly faded. "At least for a few hours."

Static.

Noah was about to open the door, when Gwen popped her head out from the girls side of the cabin. Noah turned.

"Good," Gwen said. "Get in here, we need to talk to you about something." She went back into her room. Noah raised an eyebrow, but cautiously walked into the girls room of the cabin. Once he got inside, he found Courtney and Jasmine also waiting. Noah looked at the tall Aussie, hoping she still wasn't mad at him. She wasn't looking directly at him, and looked more bored than angry. Noah walked forwards, next to Jasmine and the two faced Gwen and Courtney.

"Alright," Courtney started. "Now we can get this team meeting started."

Noah raised a questioning eyebrow to this and looked around, as did Jasmine.

"Aren't we missing a few people?" Jasmine asked.

Gwen and Courtney looked at each other, with unsure and guilty expressions on their faces. Noah immediately picked up what was going on. "Are we gonna vote off one of the Cadets?"

The two didn't say anything, but judging by their faces, Noah and Jasmine were able to figure out that that was the case. Noah was about to speak, but the Aussie cut him off.

"Why? They're practically our best teammates. It makes no sense to vote either of them off."

This time, Gwen spoke first. "Yeah, we realize that, but here's the issue…"

She let Courtney continue for her. "After tonight, there will only be twelve total competitors left. Chris only has some many episodes left before the merge." She looked over at Gwen, then back at the other two. "And we think that if both of them make it to the merge, then they'll be unstoppable."

Noah shrugged at this. "I can't argue with that, they did win the Ridonculous Race."

Silence followed as the four looked at each other. Jasmine broke the silence.

"So who are we gonna send home?"

Gwen and Courtney again looked at each other, before looking back at them. Gwen spoke. "We're not sure. Eliminating Sanders might make Macarthur an even bigger threat…"

"...And Sanders is far too level headed. Macarthur would probably get herself eliminated, at some point, anyway." Courtney added.

Again, the four stood in silence, thinking it over. Both points were good. But they needed all four votes to make it count. Jasmine looked up at her teammates.

"So how are we gonna decide?"

Gwen and Courtney shrugged, but Noah had an idea. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a coin. "We let the coin pick. Heads, it's Sanders. Tails, it's Macarthur." Courtney and Gwen weren't sure, but couldn't think of an alternative. They nodded. Noah nodded to, and readied himself. But then he looked up at Jasmine. Thinking for a moment, he held out the coin to her. "I think you should do it." he said.

Jasmine was surprised at the gesture. He was trusting _her_ with the decision? She didn't know what to make of it, but took the coin and put it on top of her thumb. She looked at the other three, before flicking her thumb, sending the coin flying up...and back down to her open palm. She closed her fist on it. Nervously, she opened it.

* * *

At the elimination ceremony, the six remaining Shark Cowboys sat on the stumps. Gwen, Jasmine, Courtney and Noah all looked very guilty about their decision.

Chris stood at his barrel, looking very perplexed "Ya ever get that feeling like you're forgetting something." He said the competitors. No one had an answer for him, so he shrugged and took the envelope.

Macarthur smiled, as Chris did his usual speech. She looked to her partner. "I think we did pretty good today, could've gone either way." Chris passed the first marshmallow to Gwen. The Goth took it, but Sanders noted how guilty her expression was. Macarthur went on. "I mean, I definitely did better than you, but I don't think it should be a competition on who's better. I'd obviously win it, so why even bother, am I right?" Sanders wasn't listening though. She watched Chris pass the next marshmallow to Jasmine. She had a similar expression to Gwen. Suddenly, Sanders realized what was going on, but Macarthur kept talking. "Like, _I_ won for our team, _you_ won for our team, but...mine meant more."

"Macarthur."

The burly cadet wasn't listening. Sanders watched Courtney receive a marshmallow. "I mean mine was a tiebreaker against Jo, while you were only facing a half hearted Alejandro."

"Macarthur!"

"And if I'm being honest, you had to use dirty tactics to win. Using his girlfriend for leverage...that's just low. I mean, I was impressed by it, but it's still low."

"MACARTHUR!"

The Burly Cadet finally stopped talking. She was going to ask Sanders why she was yelling at her, when she saw Chris toss another marshmallow to Noah. He only had one marshmallow left on his plate. Macarthur looked around to realize that everyone else had received a marshmallow. Except for Sanders and herself.

Chris smirked as he looked at the cadets, who were completely frozen. "Yeah, I'm honestly just as surprised as you two are, but the votes don't lie. I do sometimes, but not tonight." He laughed at his own joke. Sanders looked over at her partner, as did Macarthur. Both were petrified over what would happen next. They looked back at the host, who was now holding the marshmallow above his head.

"The penultimate marshmallow goes to…

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"...Sanders."

The Skinny Cadet couldn't even catch her immunity item, she was so in shock. Macarthur just stood on her stump, also in shock. She slowly started to stand up. Noah, Courtney, Gwen and Jasmine watched on, worried what would happen. Macarthur took a deep breath, looked back at her ex-teammates and...smiled.

"Well, ya guys got me. Honestly, not a bad choice. I mean, Sanders was probably the better choice to eliminate first." The four looked confused as Macarthur walked away. "She's way more sensible than I am, she isn't going to-"

Suddenly, Macarthur felt a tug on her arm. She looked back. Sanders was holding onto her arm with both hands. She looked terrified, tears forming around her eyes.

"No. No, no, no, no, no, no." She repeated. "You're not the one who's supposed to go. You know way more about this game than I do. I can't go on like this. Not without you." She was practically choking on her words. "We were supposed to go to the end and-" She looked at Chris and stepped towards him. "I want to take Macarthur's place. I want to be eliminated."

Chris was surprised by this, but shrugged. "Sorry. Can't do that. Rules are rules."

Sanders was now hyperventilating. She let her tears run down her face, until she felt a hand grab her shoulder and turn her around.

Macarthur looked sternly at her partner and grabbed her other shoulder. "Hey!" She shouted. Sanders calmed down a bit, but she was still crying. Macarthur went on. "You are way stronger than you think you are. What I said before meant nothing. I'm the one who's less level headed, so they probably figured that I would get myself eliminated in the merge." Courtney was slightly impressed that Macarthur knew that, but the Cadet went on. "You can do this. You can make farther than I ever could. They made a big mistake by not sending you home." She moved their heads closer together. "So make them regret it."

Sanders just stared at her partner. Macarthur smiled and locked Sanders in a hug. The skinny cadet returned it, though sadly. Macarthur released the hug, took one last look at her partner and walked towards Chris. "Since I only competed in the Race, do I get to choose my way of elimination?"

Chris was surprised by this, but allowed it. Macarthur gave a wide smirk.

* * *

A few minutes later, Gwen, Jasmine, Noah, Courtney and Sanders were all witnessing Macarthur's choice of elimination.

She, of course, chose the Launch of Shame.

Macarthur grinned as was loaded in. Even Chris was surprised how eager she was. But before she got launched, Macarthur looked down at Sanders. Her partner was still very upset, and looked to be doubting herself. But then Macarthur nodded at her. Then, Sanders took a deep breath and gave a stern look, followed by a return nod.

Macarthur grinned, and gave a thumbs up. Then Chris pulled the cord, and the Cadet was launched into the night sky, yelling in delight as she flew.

The other four competitors looked back at Sanders, who just turned and walked towards the cabin. They all felt very guilty over what just happened. Chris stepped in front of them and faced the camera.

"Wow. Talk about an emotional elimination ceremony. The Cadets are now split and the Shark Cowboys only have five players left. Will Sanders be able to make it past the next episode? Will Noah be able to last another night? And is the merge coming soon, or are we gonna let the competitors squirm for a bit longer? Find out next time on Tot-"

Suddenly, there was a noise from a nearby bush. Chris looked over. Out stepped Dawn. But she looked very different. Her straitjacket was torn to pieces, as well as part of her sweater, and she had a tranquilizer dart sticking out of her shoulder. Aggressively, she pulled it out, while giving the Host a cold death glare. Her hair was messed up and she had scratches on her face. Chris realized the situation and, panicked, looked at the camera. "See you next time." With that, he bolted away, screaming in terror, as Dawn gave chase.

* * *

Sanders sat miserably at the steps to her cabin. The rest of the Cowboys had gone to sleep and she was the only one up. It was very late at night. She had stopped crying, but just looked miserably down at the ground. How was she going to get through the rest of the game?

Suddenly, she heard a twig snap and looked up.

It was Duncan.

He stepped towards her, noticing the sad expression on the Cadet's face. He gave a look that said he understood what just happened. Sanders was surprised and waited for a response.

"Looks like...It's time for me to return the favor." He gave an awkward smile.

Sanders kept looking up at him, shocked by what he just said. Before Duncan could say anything else, the Cadet jumped forward and wrapped the Ex-Con in a sad hug, crying again. Duncan was too surprised to return it at first, but did so after a few seconds.

She didn't say anything for a while, and neither did he.

* * *

**Well, that was fun. I was surprised just how quickly I wrote this chapter. As for Macarthur, she was easily my favorite character to write for, so I'm sad to see her go. But Also I think I like this elimination ceremony a little more than last chapter's. Let me know what you think of her elimination and how I wrote her overall. The challenge was also really fun to write and I liked mixing the action with the drama. Remember to leave a review, a follow or just send some love. **

**In the meantime, peace be with ya.**

* * *

Vengeful Bobcats: Amy, Samey, Duncan, Scott, Dawn, Zoey and Jo

Shark Cowboys: Gwen, Courtney, Sanders, Noah and Jasmine

Placement:

22nd: Sierra

21st: Lightning

20th: Tyler

19th: Leshawna

18th: Mike

17th: Cody

16th: Heather

15th: Alejandro

14th: Owen

13th: Macarthur

Votes:

Macarthur: Noah, Jasmine, Courtney, Gwen

Noah: Macarthur, Sanders


	12. All You Can Shoot

**Remember to leave a review for this chapter once you're done reading it. **

* * *

**Sirstupidity: Please don't change anything about your reviews. I love hearing from you. Your reviews give me endless amounts of joy. **

**HPtheButterfree (Ch 10): I guess you'll have to find out.**

**DSX62415: That he does, my friend. That he does.**

**Big Bobby: Awesome predictions. I'm glad you like Noah's story arc. **

**Infinity Wizard: Thank you. Love your analysis and the predictions. **

**Knifez: I knew what the word meant, but I still used it incorrectly. I wouldn't have noticed if you hadn't told me. So thanks. I think that once I'm done with TDL, I'll go back and fix some grammar and formatting issues. Love all of these predictions. **

* * *

Chris spoke over the opening shot of Kichi Island. "Previously on Total Drama Legends. We took the competitors to the water and had them battle it out in an epic water based challenge. Scott made either a huge mistake or a genius move when he revealed to Amy that he's carrying the invincibility statue. It's hard to tell with that Farm Boy. Noah tried to fix his relationship with Jasmine, and it went about as well as you expected. Or did it? (referring to Noah risking his own body to protect Jasmine). In the end, though, four of the Shark Cowboys decided that the Cadets were too strong to be kept together. So it was goodbye Macarthur, in probably one of the most emotional, but strangest, elimination ceremonies in recent history."

Chris walked along the dock, holding an ice pack over his left eye. "Now the Cowboys are down by two, and to say their morale is down would be an understatement. I'd say the Bobcats have an easy cruise into the merge. Speaking of, with only twelve competitors remaining, is it time that we split the teams? I won't tell you here, but find out on...Total...Drama...L...egends!"

* * *

Sanders sat glumly on her top bunk. After last night's elimination, she didn't get much sleep. For the first time in a long time, she was no longer with her partner, Macarthur. Gwen, Courtney, Jasmine and even Noah were all in the girls' side of the cabin, trying to talk to her. She hadn't said a word nor had she changed her blank expression.

Courtney sighed. "Sanders, I know you miss Macarthur and all, but we need you to focus."

Sanders didn't say anything, instead looking down at her knees.

"None of us like seeing you this way." Gwen added. "You're usually so chill."

Still no response.

Noah was leaning on the wall next to the entrance.

"I get that you and Macarthur were tight, but she probably wouldn't want to see you moping like this. It's not like both of you were guaranteed a spot in the finale."

This just made Sanders more depressed, and Noah received some glares. He noticed and realized his poor choice of words. Jasmine glared too, then sighed and turned back to Sanders.

"Ignore him. Your partner might be gone, but still have a lot of fight in you." She reached up and put a hand next to Sanders, with a look of sympathy. Sanders raised her head slightly. "We're sorry we had to eliminate your partner, Sanders." She gulped, almost choking on her next words. "But, Noah makes a good point." The Brainiac went wide eyed and almost fell over when he heard this. Jasmine continued. "Macarthur wouldn't want to see you this way. She said it herself, you're a lot stronger than you think you are. I know it, and so do we."

No one said a word for a bit. But after a few moments, Sanders jumped down to the floor and walked out of the cabin.

"I'm going for a walk." She said unhappily, as she exited the door.

The rest of her team watched her leave, except Noah. He just looked at Jasmine.

* * *

At the McLean beach house, Duncan, Dawn and Zoey were all sitting on the L couch. They were all in their PJs still, with Duncan also wearing a black tank top. They seemed to be enjoying each other's company, until Zoey looked at Dawn.

"So Dawn?" She asked. "What exactly happened after Chris put you in that straitjacket?"

Dawn looked down, slightly ashamed. "I...I'd rather not talk about it. It's not something I'm proud of." She said meekly.

Zoey looked up at Duncan, and the two gave cheeky smirks.

"Well now you gotta tell us." Duncan said, leaning in. "I saw an intern, with his arm in a sling. Come on, spill."

Dawn pulled her nightgown over her face in embarrassment. Duncan and Zoey laughed, but Duncan stopped, looking out the window.

**Confessional (Duncan): **He looked unsure of himself. "So last night, I guess I returned the favor for Sanders letting me talk about Gwen." He scoffed, crossing his arms. "I mean it's not like I enjoyed listening to her sob story, but…" He paused, giving an awkward look. "...I uh...I hope it helped." He said that last part very quietly.

Static

* * *

Amy sat on her bed, watching Jo do her morning pushups on the floor of their room. The Twin was thinking about what Scott told her after yesterday's challenge.

**Confessional (Amy): **"So Scott has the invincibility statue…" She pondered over. "I saw his season. I know what he's capable of and if he thinks he can outsmart me, he's dumber than my lame excuse of a sister." She paused, thinking to herself again. "I just need to find a way to get rid of him first."

Static

The Twin was still thinking about her situation. She didn't see what was in front of her.

"What's on your mind, Blondie?"

Amy broke out of her trance. Jo had finished her pushups and was looking at her teammate, with a curious expression. Amy didn't answer immediately. She now had the chance to tell Jo about Scott and the invincibility statue. But she had another idea.

"Oh, just thinking about our next game plan." She said, like she wasn't lying. "We're so close to the merge and I think we need to stay close. Maybe get rid of a few more threats."

Jo gave a grin and slapped Amy, hard on the shoulder. The Twin winced from the impact, and rubbed her shoulder. Jo laughed. "That's what I like to hear." She walked out of the room, to the showers. Amy glared, but smirked as she left.

* * *

Samey was jogging through the woods, wearing a blue sports bra, and grey sweatpants. She was trying to keep a steady breath as she ran.

**Confessional (Samey): **"I figured that if I can make the merge this season, I'm gonna need to step up my game. I mean Jo, Duncan, Gwen and Scott are all still here and they'll be hard to deal with." She thought for a moment and gave an unsure look. "I kinda hope Amy makes the merge. That way she has way more people to annoy, other than me."

Static

Samey ran up to a tree, stopping for a break. As she caught her breath, she heard a bush rustling. She stopped and looked around, she couldn't see anything or anyone. She heard the sound again and she became curious. She looked behind the tree next to her, and went wide eyed. A few feet ahead of her, kneeling in front of a bush, was Scott. He seemed to be putting something in the bush. It looked like he was putting extra effort to make sure it would stay hidden. He hadn't heard Samey or noticed anything different.

Slowly, Samey started to walk away. Scott thought of something and suddenly turned around.

He didn't see anything. Or anyone.

He looked around for a bit longer, before finally turning back and working on the bush. Samey had just managed to avoid being seen by hiding behind the tree she was next to. Finally thinking she was safe, she walked away, as quietly as she could.

She knew what Scott was capable of and thought it was better to stay out of his way.

* * *

Jasmine was just walking out of her cabin. She had just gotten to the bottom step, when Noah ran out after her. He stopped at the top of the steps. "Jasmine." He called.

Jasmine stopped and audibly groaned. She turned around and stared dully at the Brainiac. Noah walked down the steps, before noticing the awkward stare from the aussie. Unsure of what to say, he rubbed the back of his head. "I...uh...I just wanted to say that...thanks." Noah paused and looked up at Jasmine, who had her eyebrow raised. Noah figured he should go on. "...For backing me up...earlier. I appreciate it." Jasmine didn't respond at first. To Noah, she didn't look like she knew what to say, so he figured he should go on. "And, again, I just wanted to say 'I'm sorry' for everything I put you through. I thought I would have a better chance of winning if I became a big jerk but…" He shrugged. "...turns out, being a jerk just means...being a jerk."

Jasmine didn't change face, which Noah thought was a bad sign. After a few moments, the Aussie sighed and pinched her nose.

"Look...Noah." She said, slightly aggravated. "I get that you're sorry, but I don't know if I can believe you. Back at the water derby, you said you were trying to protect me from getting hurt, but I couldn't see it, so I have no way of knowing if you're telling the truth." Noah was about to speak, but Jasmine didn't let him. "So as far as I'm concerned, I won't accept any apology from you, until I feel you earned it." She declared.

With that, Jasmine turned and walked away from the surprised Brainiac. He thought to himself. Now he knew what he needed to do, but he didn't know how to do it.

* * *

Sanders had been sitting at the Mess Hall table, alone. There was no food around, and Chef wasn't there either. She glumly sat, thinking to herself. But her thoughts were interrupted when she heard someone enter.

It was Duncan.

The Ex-Con didn't immediately see her, but when he did, he froze. The two shared an awkward glance. Their talk from last night was, more or less, the same as their previous talk. Duncan had just listened to the miserable Cadet, occasionally talking himself. But unlike Duncan's issue, Sanders had never dealt with something like this. This was the first time, in a long time, she would be away from her partner. And clearly, she was not taking it well. Duncan would've said something, but he heard another noise at the entrance.

It was the remaining Shark Cowboys, as well as the rest of Duncan's team. The Ex-Con quickly sat at his table, trying not to raise suspicion. Zoey noticed this, but didn't say anything.

"So where's breakfast?" Jo said, taking her seat.

"...And where's Chef?" Courtney added

"It's so annoying that the Beach House breakfast was a one time thing." Gwen said.

The two teams decided to wait and took their seats at their respective tables. But Noah noticed something about the Bobcats.

"Aren't you guys missing someone?" he asked them

The team looked around their table and figured out what Noah meant.

"Scott's gone." Zoey noted.

Jo noticed this, as did Amy. But Samey spoke first. She had changed out of her jogging outfit and was now in her usual cheerleader get-up. "I saw him in the woods, just outside the bathrooms." She left it at that.

Jo noted this, but didn't think much of it. Amy, on the other hand, went wide eyed at this. She thought for a second, then gave a small smirk.

A few minutes later, Scott entered the Mess Hall, being pushed in. Chef and Chris entered shortly. The host stood in the center. He had a noticeable black mark on his left eye. Zoey and Duncan quickly figured out what that meant and went wide eyed, then looked at each other, then at Dawn, who looked very guilty. The Country Boy took his seat quickly, not seeing Amy staring at him.

"Good morning, competitors." He said excitedly.

None of the competitors looked happy. "Where's our food?" Gwen asked bluntly.

Chris gave a cheeky grin and Chef chuckled. "Breakfast will be happening very soon...let's just say you won't be having your usual eggs and toast."

Most of the competitors were confused by this, but Duncan, Gwen, Courtney and Zoey all groaned at this. Samey turned to Zoey. "So are we not getting breakfast?"

Zoey was about to answer, but Duncan spoke first. "Today's the eating challenge." He grumbled.

At this announcement, the rest of the competitors also groaned at this, except Jasmine who didn't seem to mind.

**Confessional (Jasmine): **"After Pahkitew, I've learned that food, whether disgusting or not, is way better than no food."

Static.

* * *

Chris and Chef had taken the competitors to an area in the woods. Above them, attached to ropes, were several targets all hanging from the tree branches. Some were also nailed to the trees themselves. The competitors looked at Chris, who was standing in front of Chef, stirring a pot, in a small kitchen setup, with a menacing grin. The competitors gulped.

Chris explained the challenge. "So, this challenge will be different than other eating based challenges." He pointed at the targets, then took out a bow and arrow. "I like to call this game: May I Take Your Arrow?" He paused, hoping the competitors would find the name clever. He didn't receive a reaction, so went on. "The goal of this game is to hit the targets with the bow and arrow. You'll get three chances, and if you hit any of the targets, you'll have to eat something...disgusting." He pointed at Chef, who was still stirring his pot of gross, green, clumpy soup. "If you eat the entire thing, you'll earn a point for your team. If you don't eat enough of your disgusting food, refuse to eat, miss the targets all three times or barf before finishing, you won't earn a single point. Simple enough?" The competitors nodded, so Chris clapped his hands. He looked at the Shark Cowboys. "Since your team is down by two…" Sanders cringed at this, being reminded of her partner. "...two of you will have to compete twice."

Almost none of the Shark Cowboys looked like they wanted to go once, let alone two times. Gwen nudged Courtney and gave her a look. Courtney groaned and stepped forward. "I'll be going twice." She said to Chris. All the competitors looked surprised at this, but Gwen smirked.

**Confessional (Gwen): **"Courtney can handle just about anything when it comes to food." She chuckled. "You should've seen her when she ate almost a pound of dark chocolate on our…" She trailed off, realizing what she was saying "...our professional...business meeting." She said this as if she just made it up.

Static.

The Cowboys were still deciding on who the second person should be. They all eyed each other. Jasmine looked at them too. She figured she would be the best choice to do it. She stepped forward and…

"I'll do it."

The reply was not from Jasmine, though. Noah took a step ahead of her. The Aussie was shocked at this and was about to say something, but Chris interrupted.

"Great. Everyone get in place. We're gonna do this one by one." Everyone stepped back, as Jasmine glared at the Brainiac.

**Confessional (Noah): **He sighed. "This challenge is either gonna destroy my dignity, my self-respect or my stomach, if not all of them together." He sighed again, and crossed his arms. "But if it shows Jasmine just how sorry I am...I'll do it."

Static

* * *

Courtney was the first to go for her team. She held the bow and arrow steadily and looked around, deciding which target to hit. Her eyes narrowed. She gripped the string of her bow. Gwen bit her lip, in anticipation, as Courtney readied herself. Suddenly, Courtney turned around and let loose her arrow. It soared forward and nailed the target. Courtney looked at it, looking slightly disappointed. The arrow hit the target, but it was only a few centimeters away from a bullseye.

**Confessional (Courtney): **"I get that it doesn't matter where we hit the target, but if I can't do it perfectly, why should it matter?"

Static

Courtney watched as Chef held out a silver covered platter and opened it. On it was a…

"Courtney," Chris announced. "Your first meal will be a single pancake...covered in disgusting oozy snail slime."

Courtney winced at the sight of the pancake covered in the green liquid. She turned to her team. Gwen gave a thumbs up and winked. Courtney looked back and took a deep breath. With some reluctance, she stabbed the pancake with a fork and rolled it into a log shape. She took one bite, eating half of it. She cringed at the slimy texture, but took the other bite. Her chews slowed down as she winced. But after a few more seconds, she swallowed. She then opened her mouth to signal to Chris that she finished her food.

"Courtney has earned the first point. Next up is Duncan." Chris declared.

The CIT walked back to her team, looking somewhat mortified. Gwen gave a reassuring rub on the back, which made Courtney feel a little better.

* * *

Duncan looked around at his surroundings. He aimed his arrow and took a few moments before shooting. He let loose the arrow, but missed the target by inches. He sighed in annoyance and picked up a second arrow. His team raised an eyebrow at him, but he didn't care. Hoping no one would notice, he glanced quickly at the Cadet. Sanders still looked depressed.

**Confessional (Duncan): **He looked like he was trying to hide something personal, as he crossed his arms. Finally he sighed in annoyance and looked at the camera. "Ok, fine. I admit it. The fact that the Cadet is...sad, or whatever, is really getting to me. I don't know why, but…" He trailed off, thinking to himself. Finally, in frustration, he pushed the confessional door open and walked out.

Static.

Duncan shook his head, trying to shake the cobwebs. He picked up his other arrow and aimed. He chose his target and fired the arrow. It nailed the target, barely hitting it.

Chef and Chris walked up with another tray. The Host held out the platter and opened the dome. Duncan winced at what he would be eating: A bagel with live worms on top of it. Chris just smirked, as Duncan picked up his disgusting food. He gulped before taking a bite of it. Once he did, he immediately cringed and looked like he was about to throw up. But he was strong enough to hold it back and swallowed. His fellow competitors cringed at the sight of him taking more bites of the worm bagel. Finally, Duncan finished and immediately bent over, clutching his stomach. He panted, using a lot of strength to not throw up. "I think I feel them crawling back up." He groaned. After a bit, he stood back up and held open his mouth.

Chris gave the point, tying the game. Duncan looked over at Sanders. While she wasn't looking directly at him, she looked like she was trying to hold back a laugh. Duncan couldn't help but give a small smile.

* * *

Chris presented the next dish to Noah. He had already shot his target with little issue. He looked down, and grimaced. He had to eat what Chris called:

"Seaweed salad, fresh from the ocean, and a nice helping of slimy fish eggs."

Noah tried to put away the thought of throwing up, and looked away. His eyes met Jasmine. Then he remembered his promise he made to Jasmine, as well as Owen's parting words before being eliminated. He gave a more determined look, and looked back down at his salad. With a fork in one hand, he picked up the bowl, held it up to his face and shoveled the wet, green clumps into his mouth. Everyone gave shocked looks at the Brainiac, even Chris and Chef. They had to hold back their vomit, as did the rest of the competitors. Jasmine looked especially shocked at what Noah was doing. After a few more moments, Noah put down the bowl, which was now empty. He slurped up the rest of his seaweed, water dripping from his lower lip, and swallowed. He took a couple of seconds to regain his composure, but revealed to Chris that he had finished the whole thing. Chris was still in shock but gave the point. The score was now 2-1, Cowboys. Noah groggily walked back to his team, clutching his stomach. He stepped in between Gwen and Jasmine. He looked up at the Aussie, who wasn't looking at him anymore.

**Confessional (Noah): **He was still clutching his stomach. "If flattery and sucking up to her won't work, maybe I just have to torture myself a little to make her forgive me." He chuckled at his own joke, but groaned, feeling the effects of his meal.

Static.

* * *

Chris looked at his notes. "Next up is…" He paused, giving a nervous look, followed by a sigh. "...Dawn."

Duncan and Zoey looked at Dawn as she walked up to Chris and Chef.

**Confessional (Zoey): **"Who knew Dawn had a dark side?"

**Confessional (Duncan): **"So Chris messed with the weird girl and got a black eye out of it..." He pondered for a few seconds, then smirked. "Didn't know she had it in her."

Static

Chris held the pack of ice over his eye. Dawn still looked very guilty as she aimed her bow. With no effort at all, she landed an almost perfect bullseye. Chef stepped forward with his tray, opened it and pulled out what Dawn would have to eat.

"For your challenge, you'll have to eat the entirety of this cilantro." Chef said, holding the green plant in his hand. "It varies from person to person on what it tastes like, so it'll either taste good...or like soap."

Dawn looked unsure, but took the cilantro and started nibbling on it. Immediately her face scrunched up as the taste hit her tongue. Chef chuckled, while Chris hid behind him, still scared of the pale Moon Child.

* * *

While Dawn was slowly eating her meal, Amy watched on with her team. She suddenly felt a tug on her shoulder and she turned around.

Scott pulled her closer and whispered. "I've got a plan. And you're gonna help me with it." Amy didn't say anything, so Scott continued. He pointed where Dawn was still eating. "Depending on how the score turns out, I want to make sure we lose, and that I'm the reason we lose." Amy gave a surprised look, but again, Scott went on. "That way everyone will vote for me. But…you remember my secret weapon, right?" He paused to remind Amy of the Statue. "And you and I are gonna vote off Jo and it will be a smooth ride all the way to the finale." She didn't say anything, but after a moment, gave Scott a nod. Scott grinned and went back to watching the challenge. He didn't see Amy's menacing look.

**Confessional (Amy): **She was still smirking. "Just as I thought. Scott _is_ as dumb as he looks."

Static

* * *

After a few more minutes, Dawn had finally finished the cilantro, tying the score again. Chris pointed at the next competitor.

Sanders.

The Shark Cowboys now looked very unsure as they saw the, still very out of it, Cadet slunk up to Chris and Chef. The two were also surprised by the Cadet's state of mind. Duncan watched on, secretly hoping she would make it through the challenge. Sanders picked up the bow and arrow and aimed, taking her sweet time doing so. She aimed up and fired. But Sanders was so depressed, it made her unfocused. The arrow didn't come close to hitting any of the targets. In no hurry, she pulled out her second arrow and fired it again. The same thing happened.

"Only one arrow left. You don't get any points if you miss again." Chris said.

Sanders didn't change her depressed expression, but pulled out her final arrow and aimed. She didn't immediately fire it though. Maybe she was going to try a little harder. Had she gotten over Macarthur's elimination?

Duncan gave a look of hope and tightened his fist. "Come on…" He said, under his breath.

Finally, Sanders let loose her arrow and…

It _just_ missed the target she was aiming at and it disappeared into the woods.

The Shark Cowboys groaned in defeat, as Sanders dropped her bow to the ground and walked back to her team, not caring about anything.

Duncan watched from his side, still showing a sympathetic look.

**Confessional (Duncan): **"Wow, without that weird cadet by her side, Sanders just looks...aimless."

Static

* * *

"Now with Sanders' failed attempt, the Bobcats have a chance to take the lead. Up next, is Samey." Chris announced.

The nice Twin walked up towards Chris and Chef. She heard a scoff from behind her, and knew that it was from her sister, so decided to ignore it. Unlike Sanders, Samey wasted no time, took the bow and arrow and fired. It landed in the middle circle. Samey couldn't help but smirk, while Amy pouted.

Chef rolled in his tray and opened the lid to the platter. Samey didn't immediately look disgusted though. It looked like a bowl of clear soup.

"This doesn't look that bad…"

At that moment, Chef held up a small bucket and dumped its contents into the bowl. Now Samey was disgusted. Chef had just dumped a few handfuls of discarded hair into the bowl.

"Toilet water soup with a topping of hair." Chris beamed.

Samey cringed at the sight, but remembered what she said to herself earlier, and plucked up some courage. She looked at Chef. "You got a straw?"

With little hesitation, Chef reached into his pocket and pulled out a pink bendy straw. Samey took it and placed it in the bowl. Taking a deep breath, she started drinking the toilet water, with her eyes closed. The rest of the competitors, except Sanders, gasped and winced. Even Amy, who would normally be in delight at her suffering sister, was shocked. Once she finished with the water, Samey opened her eyes and gobbled down the remaining pieces of hair. She had a tough time trying to eat it, but managed to down it all. Chris, still cringing, made the announcement.

"You guys are disgusting." He shouted, followed by a shrug. "But, that earns you a point. Bobcats take the lead."

**Confessional (Samey): **She was smiling, but still feeling the effects of her meal. "I gotta say, it's nice to win something for my team. I'm not sure if they hate me anymore, so hopefully this is my chance for them to see me differently. I'm gonna need some allies once the merge starts." She chuckled, but immediately hacked up a wad of hair.

Static.

* * *

Gwen had already shot her arrow, and was presented with her next meal.

"Gwen, I hope you like pizza." The Goth remained stone faced, knowing Chris was only trying to lead her on. Realizing this, the host opened up the platter. Gwen nearly vomited on the spot after seeing what she had to eat. It was a single slice of pizza. But instead of cheese and tomato sauce, there were live cockroaches crawling around it as well as a nice heaping helping of wet cat food.

Gwen looked back at Courtney, who gave an unsure smile and an even more unsure thumbs up. Gwen looked back at her meal and gulped. Reluctantly, she picked it up and slowly brought it up to her mouth. She had just taken a single bite, when she went wide eyed and spat out the pizza. She gagged for a bit, before vomiting on the floor. The rest of the competitors watched on in disgust.

Gwen walked back, feeling like absolute crap. Courtney, returning the favor, gave a sympathetic rub on the back, once Gwen made her way back to her team.

"And Gwen fails to earn any points for her team, so the score is still two points to the Bobcats three. Up next is Amy."

Amy smirked and made her way to the center. Some interns had already started cleaning up the vomit, so Amy walked around them.

She picked her bow up, put the arrow in place and aimed. After a few seconds, she let it loose and it hit the target with a THUNK. It landed just outside the bullseye. Samey watched this and, thinking of her own arrow, gave a confident smile. Chris stepped forward, not with a tray, but with a piece of paper.

"Amy," he said. "Your eating challenge will be a unique one." Amy listened. "All you have to do is go to Chef's kitchen and pick something out of the garbage, bring it back here and eat it."

Amy seemed content with the idea. "You've got ten minutes." Chris finished. Amy nodded, turned away and walked away from the challenge area. Once she was out of shot, she gave an evil grin.

* * *

While the teams waited, Duncan tried to take his mind off of Sanders. He tried looking at Gwen, reminding himself why he came onto the show. But it didn't last long because his gaze almost immediately fell back on the Cadet. She still looked very out of it. Without anyone to keep in order or laugh at, she looked more like a lost child, or a zombie, even.

Duncan sighed, but suddenly felt like someone was looking at him. He turned to his right. Zoey was staring at him with curiosity.

"You alright?" She asked.

Duncan didn't answer. Instead he looked back at Sanders, then at Gwen. He sighed. "I'm...I'm fine." He said, unconvincingly.

Zoey kept staring at him, not believing what he was saying in the slightest.

* * *

After about another five minutes, or so, Amy returned with her food. She had a half eaten jelly doughnut. It had a few pieces of hair on it, but didn't look too bad. The rest of her team looked jealous as she smugly ate her food. Even Jo looked a little annoyed. After a few more moments, she finished.

"And Amy extends the Bobcats score by another point giving them a two point lead." Chris announced. "If they keep this up, they'll win the challenge before we know it." The Vengeful Bobcats were happy about this, while the Shark Cowboys looked nervous. Chris continued and looked at the camera. "Can Jasmine get a comeback going for her team? Let's find out."

Jasmine took the bow and arrow and quickly let it loose. She hit a near perfect bullseye, which made her smile. Chef walked up to her and unveiled her meal.

Chris cringed at the mere sight of it. "Jasmine, you will be getting the worst tasting food for this challenge. A Vegemite burger." What Chef presented was exactly that. It was a regular looking burger but with a black paste spread on top of the meat.

Chris smirked evilly, but Jasmine gave a blank look. With no resistance, she picked up the burger and started biting into it. Chris was waiting for Jasmine to spit it out in disgust or cringe from the taste. But Jasmine remained stone faced as she took another bite. Chris was now confused.

"How...How are you not disgusted from eating that? I put Vegemite on it. It tastes awful."

Jasmine shrugged. "You forget, mate. I'm from Australia. I eat these on everything."

Chris was gobsmacked and, curious, he took a small jar of the condiment. He slid his finger on the side of the lid and put a small dollop in his mouth. Almost immediately, he went wide eyed and spat it out, rubbing his tongue vigorously. He looked up at the Aussie, who was still casually eating her burger.

Chris sighed in defeat. "Fine, I get it. You got the point."

Jasmine smiled contently and went back to her team, still eating her burger.

* * *

Jo was next and had already successfully hit the target. Chef presented the tray and opened the dome. It was a single meatball on a plate.

"This is-"

But before Chris could finish, Jo had already grabbed the piece of meat and stuffed it in her mouth. Chris and Chef both looked at her, gobsmacked.

Jo shrugged. "It's just a meatball…" She garbled, some meat spewing from her mouth.

Chris took a moment. "Yes…" He said unsure. "It is a meatball…" At that moment, Jo slowed her chewing down, realizing something. Chris went on. "...made with ground beef, ground pork salt, pepper and…" Jo's face started burning up and she was sweating. "...and a little bit of...demon pepper, one of the hottest peppers in the world." Chris finished.

Jo couldn't handle it anymore and spit out the meatball, turned around and ran away from the challenge, still suffering from the pepper's effects. An black haired intern was about to take a sip of water from his bottle, until Jo shoved him to the ground, took the water bottle and chugged it. Once she was finished, she threw the bottle down and ran off for another drink. The rest of the competitors watched with shock and amusement. Amy didn't laugh or smile, but Scott, who was standing next to him, couldn't help but snicker. Once he saw Amy glaring at him, he stopped, but kept smirking.

**Confessional (Amy): **Instead of keeping face, she was vigorously laughing. She banged her fist against the side of the confessional and clutched her stomach, in pain from laughing so hard.

Static.

"Well with Jo's performance, the score is still the same at three to four, Bobcats. The Cowboys still have two players left to go, so there's still a chance for a comeback." Chris pointed to the next competitor. "Now it's time for Courtney to go for the second time."

* * *

Courtney raised her bow and struck the target with the arrow, this time it landed directly in the center target. She smirked and looked back at her team. Most of them rolled their eyes, except for Sanders and Gwen, the latter of whom grinned and gave a thumbs up. Courtney looked happy, but her look changed, when Chef held the plate of food she was meant to eat.

"Courtney," Chris said, to the side. "You'll be eating this plate of raw spaghetti."

Courtney looked unsure. "Uh, Chris? It can be very hazardous to my health to eat raw pasta noodles. I read that-"

Chris rolled his eyes and cut her off. "Yes, Courtney. I'm aware. This isn't enough pasta to cause any negative effects. It'll just be really hard and really annoying to eat."

Courtney didn't look satisfied but obliged. "You better hope that's the case, otherwise my lawyers will have something to say."

"You tell him, Court." Gwen called from behind her. Courtney smirked at the retort. Chris groaned and walked off. Courtney gave a nervous look, but picked up a wad of the noodles and took a bite. It made a loud CRUNCH and even more noises as she chewed on it. It didn't seem very comfortable to eat, but she continued. After a few more minutes, she was able to finish. She checked her teeth to make sure none of them were damaged.

"And Courtney has tied it up at four points each." Chris declared. He looked at his watch and frowned. "You guys better hurry up, I've got a manicure in half an hour."

* * *

Zoey was next for the Bobcats and walked up to the center. The Shark Cowboys watched her from their viewing area. Noah clutched his stomach, as it rumbled, still feeling the effects of his last meal. Gwen looked at him.

"Are you sure you can handle another disgusting meal like that?"

Noah chuckled, in an attempt to lighten the mood. "Well, as long as my girlfriend doesn't dump me in an attempt to preserve her own dignity, I should be good."

Surprisingly, Gwen chuckled at this. Noah smiled, and turned his head to Jasmine. Once Jasmine saw that he was looking at her, she rolled her eyes and looked away. Noah sighed sadly.

Meanwhile, Zoey, who had just hit the target, was cringing at the sight of her meal. "It's sushi." Chris said, enthusiastically. "But instead of fish it's ground up ants and instead of rice, you'll be enjoying a nice helping of maggots."

Zoey tried holding in her barf, but it was no use. Before she could even pick the food up, she upchucked. The oncoming projectile of vomit knocked the platter out of Chef's hand. Chris gave a look. "Weak." He said, almost feeling sorry for the Indie Chick. "No points for you."

Zoey slunked back to her team, embarrassed.

* * *

Noah took a deep breath. With the score still tied at four points each, it was up to him to give their team a chance. With his stomach grumbling, he stepped forward and picked up the bow and arrow. He aimed it, but was struck with a feeling of dizziness. He let go of the arrow. It flew into the woods, not hitting a single target. He exhaled and tried again. This time, he had enough stamina to hit the target, though only just.

This time, Chef had a large cup in his hand. Inside was a gross, clumpy, thick green liquid. Noah looked disgusted at the vile liquid. Chris revealed it to be a fruit smoothie. Only the fruit was rotten and way past its expiration date.

Noah took a whiff of it, and turned away, absolutely disgusted by the smell. But when he turned, he cast a look at Jasmine. Immediately, he gained a little bit of strength back. Reluctantly, he looked back at his smoothie. Taking a deep breath, he held it up to his mouth, opened it and let it pour down his throat. He closed his eyes as he did it. The rest of the competitors were shocked. Not only had Noah already eaten one disgusting dish, he was now chugging a mixture of rotten fruit. Jasmine couldn't help but watch like last time.

Finally, the last of the smoothie was chugged down. He slammed the cup down. He was breathing heavily, as if he couldn't believe what he just did.

Chris, who was also in shock, looked at Noah. The Brainiac opened his mouth to reveal that he had swallowed the entirety of his smoothie.

"Well, Noah," said Chris, "I don't know if you're crazy or really want to make the merge this season, but I like this new version of you. You've earned the point for your team, and taken the lead."

Noah didn't respond. He was in a daze from what he just did and hadn't blinked. Chris waited for him to answer, but he never got one. Instead Noah tipped over the side and landed on the floor with a loud THUD.

* * *

Chris walked up to the Vengeful Bobcats (Jo was the only one who wasn't there). "So the last player to go for your team is Scott."

The team turned to the Country Boy, who was shrugging. "Well, I mean, what's the point? Even if I win my challenge, we'll just tie."

Chris smirked at this. "Well, you make a good point there, Scott. Your team has four points, while the Shark Cowboys have five. But I want to make things interesting." He paused, getting the curiosity of the teams. "If Scott completes his challenge, he'll earn double points for his team. So whatever happens, one team will go away the victor."

Scott pretended to look happy about this.

**Confessional (Scott): **He shrugged. "Well if I want my plan to work, I gotta make sure we don't win this challenge. Then it's goodbye, Jo."

Static

Scott picked up his bow and arrow. He acted as if he had the perfect shot, but when he let go of the arrow, it missed completely. The rest of his team watched with bated breath. He picked up his second arrow and missed again. Now Scott only had one last chance to fire an arrow, otherwise he would lose the challenge.

"What are you doing, dude?" Duncan called. "You're not even trying."

Scott grinned, then looked back, with an innocent expression. "Look, I'm doing my best. There's a lot of pressure for me to do well and I think-" At that moment, Scott accidentally let go of his arrow, not looking where it flew. He heard a THUNK and turned back. The arrow had indeed struck one of the targets. The rest of his team let out a sigh of relief, while Scott grumbled that his plan didn't work.

"Great…" He mumbled under his breath.

Chef came up with a large tray, with ten shot glasses of a gross green and white mixture. Chris, as usual, told Scott what it was. "In an homage to the first ever eating challenge, the final meal will be a shot glass challenge. Scott, what I have here for you is a wonderful, but still gross, mixture of maggots and cockroaches. Drink all of them and you'll win the challenge."

Scott looked unsure at the drink. He picked up a glass and eyed it. He slurped it up and put down the glass. He gave a surprised expression.

**Confessional (Scott): **"Honestly, it wasn't the worst thing I've ever eaten. Back at the farm, that would be the equivalent of a first class meal." He paused, grinning evilly. "But I can't let anyone know that."

Static

Scott kept taking shots, one after the other. He was quickly down to only five. His team grinned, knowing they were about to win. Amy just glared at the Country Boy. The Shark Cowboys looked very nervous.

Soon, Scott was down to only two shots left. He quickly took a shot of one, slamming down the glass. He paused, before picking up the last glass. He was seconds away from drinking it, when he went wide eyed. He dropped the glass and clutched his stomach. He started groaning dramatically. His glass fell to the ground, and the drink spilled out. His team was gobsmacked. Scott looked at them, with a pained expression.

"I just couldn't take it anymore. I tried to get through them all, but it was too much. If I eat one more, I'll die of dysentery." He sounded very overly dramatic.

His team groaned as Chris stepped in front of them. "Well with Scott giving up, that means the victory goes to...the Shark Cowboys!"

The Cowboys cheered, except for Sanders. They all started to walk away, while the Bobcats looked at Scott annoyed.

"I know who I'm sending home." Duncan said, clearly pissed.

"Me too." Said Amy. But she winked at Scott, who responded with a small grin.

"I can't believe I drank toilet water for nothing." Samey shuddered, as they started walking to the cabins

* * *

Back at the loser cabin, the Bobcats were all mingling with one another, most likely discussing tonight's elimination. Zoey looked around, before walking up to Duncan, who was standing away from everyone else. She greeted him warmly, but looked a little unsure. Duncan noticed this.

"Ok. What do you want?" He said bluntly.

Zoey thought for a moment. "Are you sure you're alright?" She asked skeptically

Duncan didn't know what she meant at first, but soon realized. "Oh, you mean from earlier?" Zoey nodded. Duncan groaned. "I already told you, I'm fine. Nothing's wrong."

The Indie Chick wanted to ask again, but just shrugged and turned to walk away. "Fine. But if you want to talk about it, let me know."

Duncan scoffed. "You sound like Sanders…"

Zoey stopped dead in her tracks, and gave the Ex-Con a weird look. Duncan immediately realized his mistake and held out his arms. "Nonononono. That didn't mean anything." He panicked.

Zoey walked back up to him, with almost a childlike grin on her face. "What did you say?" She asked, curiously.

"I didn't say anything." Duncan said defiantly.

Zoey gave another cheeky smile. "I'm pretty sure you said that I sounded like San-"

Duncan immediately put his hand over Zoey's mouth, silencing her. He looked around to make sure no one was listening. Thankfully, everyone was preoccupied with their own thing to notice, or just didn't care. Duncan looked back at Zoey and whispered to her. "Fine. Yes. I said you sounded like that Cadet. I've been-" He stopped himself, debating if he should tell her. "I've been talking with her. More than once." He paused, releasing his hand from Zoey's mouth.

She looked at him weirdly. "Why?"

Duncan paused for a moment, before shaking his head. "Don't worry about it. I...I don't want to talk about it. Besides, you're still helping me with Gwen, got it?!" He said this a little angrier than he meant to. Zoey looked unconfident over what Duncan was saying, but nodded. Duncan turned and walked away, but stopped and looked back at his teammate. She looked upset at Duncan's outburst, and held her arm sadly. Duncan groaned and walked back to her. "Look...I'm sorry. I'm just going through a lot of crap right now. I don't…" He paused, really considering his next words. "I meant what I said about Gwen. We're sticking with the original plan. But..." He rubbed the back of his head, with an uncharacteristic look of guilt. "...you've been really cool through all of this...and..., I guess, I appreciate it." Zoey looked up, mesmerized by Duncan's speech.

Finally, she gave a small smile. "Thanks, Duncan. But if you ever change your mind-"

Duncan quickly raised his hand up to stop her talking. "I got it." He bluntly stated.

Zoey smiled again. There was an awkward silence between the two. Neither knew what else to say. But it was the Ex-Con who spoke first.

"So, do we hug after this...or what?" Zoey looked at him, surprised, but Duncan went on. "I mean, I don't want one, but I think it's the least I could do for-"

He didn't finish. Zoey took a step forward and wrapped her arms around Duncan, locking him in a hug. Duncan returned it, and tried to look like he didn't enjoy it. But he did give a small smile, when he was sure no one was looking.

* * *

Noah was at the McLean Beach House, sitting on the L couch. He was clutching his stomach from all the food he had to endure. He was the only one in the room. Gwen and Courtney took one of the doubles on the second floor, while Sanders had taken one of the singles. The Cadet hadn't said a word to anyone, nor had she left her room. Laying on his back was helping Noah a bit, but he still didn't feel that well.

He heard footsteps coming into the room. Struggling, he pulled himself up slightly and looked over the cushion. Jasmine had just entered the room. She stopped when she saw Noah looking at her. The two kept staring at each other for a few awkward seconds, not saying anything. Eventually, Jasmine went over to one of the singles and closed the door behind her. Noah sighed and went back to sitting down.

**Confessional (Noah): **He rubbed his arm. "Well, I mean. She didn't say anything..._bad _to me." He paused. "Ok, she didn't say _anything _to me. But that's gotta be an improvement...right?"

**Confessional (Jasmine): **She sighed. "I'll admit, Noah was impressive in today's challenge. But that does _not_ mean I forgive him. The things he said to me are still fresh in my mind and I'm not about to let him go that easily. If at all."

Static.

* * *

Back at the loser cabin, Scott just entered one of the doors. He saw Amy and Jo next to each other. Jo had a half empty jug of milk in her right hand. She looked exhausted. Her hair was a mess and her eyes were half closed. Amy looked up to see Scott, while Jo barely had the strength to turn her head. Scott grinned as he walked in.

"How's it going, everyone?" He said.

"What- what happened at today's challenge? We should've won." Jo asked, ignoring the question.

"Yeah. What did happen?" Amy added, suspiciously.

Scott knew she was pretending to be skeptical, so played along. "It was all part of my plan. We're so close to the merge, so I figured we could lose one more player."

Amy raised an eyebrow. "Who did you have in mind?"

Scott grinned. "I figured Duncan would be the best choice. He's always made the merge, so our chances of making the finale would go way up."

Jo didn't say anything. Either because she agreed with the plan or because she was so disoriented from the demon pepper that she wasn't in the right state of mind.

Amy smirked. "Good idea." She winked at the Country Boy.

Scott nodded in response and turned to walk out. Jo went back to being in agony, while Amy watched Scott leave, knowing exactly where he was going.

* * *

Later, at night, in the woods, Chris' voice echoed through the speakers.

"Would the Vengeful Bobcats please make their way to the elimination ceremony? It's votin' time."

Within the area in the woods it was dead quiet, once Chris' mic went off. The silence was interrupted by the only person in the area. Scott was running around, in a panic. Desperately looking for something, he looked under bushes, behind trees. But no matter where he looked, he couldn't find what he was looking for. He grabbed his hair in frustration and looked to the sky.

* * *

At the elimination ceremony, all the Vengeful Bobcats were sitting around, waiting. Scott still hadn't shown. Jo was confused, but still woozy from earlier. Chris had a stack of already filled out elimination papers next to him. He looked aannoyed.

"All what I ask of you guys is for _everyone_ to show up on time. Is that too much to ask?" At this point, he had grown tired of saying that.

None of the competitors had an answer for him.

There was a rustle in the bushes and Chris turned. Chef was carrying Scott under his arm. He unceremoniously dropped the Farmer Boy to the ground. He got up and dusted himself off, then turned around. He finally noticed all the eyes on him and he tried not to look panicked.

"Scott, my man." said Chris. "Glad you could make it."

Scott didn't respond at first. He figured he still had a shot to change things, so went to go sit down, but Chris spoke up.

"That won't be necessary." He looked to the rest of the team. "Now, under regular circumstances, everyone gets the opportunity to vote someone off, but since Scott showed up late, we decided to get the votes sorted out." Scott gulped, as Chris turned to him "And to be honest, no matter who you voted for, it wouldn't matter because, with five votes against...

…

…

…

…

...

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

...

"...Scott gets the boot."

The Country Boy went pale. He couldn't think of a way out, so he desperately thought of something to say. "I-I have the Invincibility Statue." He said abruptly

His team gasped at this. Jo snapped out of her spell, went wide eyed and glared at him. She started to stand up, but Amy stopped her.

Chris blinked and held out his arms. "Well...where is it?"

Scott didn't say anything. He checked his pockets, desperately hoping it would turn up. It didn't. Scott groaned in defeat.

Chris smirked. "Nice try, Scott. But, unless something turns up, it's you who's going home."

Knowing he couldn't do anything, Scott grumbly accepted his elimination. He walked past his ex-teammates. Jo was still glaring at him, while Amy held her back.

* * *

Scott's elimination method was the Hurl of Shame, a giant wooden catapult. He sat in the catapult, pissed off. Chris stood next to him, ready to send him flying.

"Any last words, Scott?"

The Country Boy didn't say anything. He sat, thinking about what went wrong. Then...something went off in his head. He went wide eyed. He opened his mouth to say something.

"Wait-"

At that moment, Chris pulled the lever and Scott was sent flying off into the night.

Chris smirked as he watched him disappear.

**Confessional (Jo): **"I don't know if Dirt Boy was bluffing or not, but I wouldn't be surprised if he tried to go behind my back. But now I only have one alliance member left. So far, Amy's been pretty trustworthy, but she's probably not smart enough to think she can best me. So maybe I'll let her stick around for a while longer."

**Confessional (Amy): **She was holding the McLean Invincibility statue in her hand, and smirking. "See ya around, Rat Boy."

Static.

Chris was revealed to be watching the confessional from the cockpit of the McPlane. He looked at the camera. "Wow. Talk about cold blooded. Amy has the Invincibility statue. Jo hasn't a clue, and neither does anyone else. Will any of these competitors get a clue, though, before it's too late. We're changing things up yet again, so stay tuned for the next episode of...Total...Drama...L...egends!"

* * *

**So I think Friday will be my usual uploading time. I don't know if it will always be every Friday or every other Friday, or just whenever I feel like it. But, right now, that is how things will go.**

**Yup. Scott's gone. His plan failed and now Amy has the invincibility statue. I was considering keeping that a secret, but I figured everyone would've predicted it anyway. This chapter was a lot of fun. However, I'm not certain if the challenge will come out boring, or not, because it seems like I repeat the same thing alot. I added things in the middle to keep it interesting, but I don't know, you tell me. Next chapter should be interesting. The challenge I have in mind is pretty unique, so I'm excited how it will turn out. **

**As I've said before: Peace be with ya.**

* * *

Bobcats: Duncan, Dawn, Samey, Amy, Zoey and Jo

Cowboys: Courtney, Noah, Sanders, Gwen and Jasmine

Placement:

22nd: Sierra

21st: Lightning

20th: Tyler

19th: Leshawna

18th: Mike

17th: Cody

16th: Heather

15th: Alejandro

14th: Owen

13th: Macarthur

12th: Scott

Votes

Scott: Duncan, Zoey, Dawn, Samey, Amy

Duncan: Jo

Scott wasn't able to vote


	13. Airline Feud

**Remember to leave a review for this chapter once you're done reading it. **

* * *

**KirbyStar: If I had to give a reason for that happening, you could argue that Chris didn't want Scott to get the statue for a second time, so give Amy the chance to look for it. I think he's always pulling some strings when hosting the show. But you do make a good point, that I really didn't think about, so thank you. Also I guess my mind wasn't running on cartoon logic, which is why I didn't have Scott keep the statue in his pocket. **

**Gman: Glad you liked the chapter. And here's a new chapter for your viewing pleasure **

**DSX62415: Yes, but she only knew that Scott was hiding something, she had no idea what it was. Also, she wanted to stay away from the Country Boy**

**Guest #46: Loving the predictions.**

**Knifez: The gender difference might play a part, later on. Wink. Wink. **

**Infinity Wizard: I love writing for Duncan and Zoey because they're such opposite characters, but work off each other very well. **

* * *

The episode opens with a shot of the McPlane flying through the air, while Chris does his thing. "Last time on Total Drama Legends. Worm bagels, rotten fruit smoothies, toilet water soup and maggot sushi. These were just some of the disgusting pieces of 'food' we made the competitors eat in the grossest eating challenges to date. Some puked, some were strong, but all of them were grossed out. Except for Jasmine...she's weird. Scott had already revealed to us that he had the invincibility statue, so he was confident his act of sabotage would work. Unfortunately for him, Amy took the statue right out from under him, and sent the Farmer Boy packing...or rather, flying."

Chris was revealed to be in a dimly lit room on the plane, carrying a silver briefcase with a yellow star on it. "I gotta admit, I didn't expect that kind of intelligence from a cheerleader. But, I've been wrong before. Who will Amy's next victim be? Will anyone be able to stop her before it's too late?" He held up the case. "And what significance does this briefcase have for today's challenge? Find out...right here on Total...Drama...L...egends!"

* * *

The Shark Cowboys were enjoying their time in first class. Some more than others. Gwen and Courtney were sitting on the bar stools, both with (non-alcoholic) drinks, cheerfully talking. Jasmine was trying to relax in the hottub, even if it was awkward with her height. Sanders was laying on her side, with her back to the camera, on a fold out bed. She still hadn't said a word to any of her teammates.

Noah was sitting in a chair, reading a book. He was distracted though. His eyes kept darting towards Jasmine. He looked uneasy.

**Confessional (Noah): **"Ok, I'm all for getting on Jasmine's good side. But I really hope she forgives me soon." He clutched his stomach with a nervous expression. "I just got over the rotten food I had to eat and I would prefer not to have to go through something like that again."

Static.

* * *

The Bobcats were are all miserable in their loser class accomodations. With Scott's elimination still fresh in their minds, some of them tried to distract themselves by talking about it.

"So Scott turned out to be a backstabber, what else is new?" Duncan said, to no one in particular.

"He doesn't know any new tricks." Zoey chuckled

"There is a dark aura surrounding him," Dawn noted, in her usual lotus position on the wooden bench. But then she looked unsure. "But that does beg the question: if Scott didn't have the statue, why would he make us lose?"

Duncan and Zoey gave pondering expressions at this.

"That's a good point." Duncan added. Then he smirked at the Moon Child. "You should've socked him in the eye like you did with Chris."

He and Zoey shared a laugh, while Dawn's face went red.

"I-I told you. I'm not proud of that." She shouted, flustered.

The duo continued to laugh, while Jo looked to be thinking of something.

Amy, who was sitting next to her, saw this. "Are you alright?" She whispered to her.

Jo didn't respond at first, but she looked at the twin. "Pale Face made a good point."

Amy raised an eyebrow. "And what's that?"

"Ginger Rat didn't have the statue at all…" Amy started to look a little nervous, but Jo didn't notice and continued. "... But I think someone already does." Amy gulped. Thankfully for her, the statue was in her bag. Jo turned to her and, seemingly, gave a suspicious look. Amy didn't say anything, but wasn't sure if Jo knew that she had the statue. Jo might've said something, when they heard a door open. Everyone turned to see Samey walking out of the bathroom. Amy immediately jumped at the opportunity to distract Jo.

"Hey Spare-amy. Did you enjoy your toilet water from yesterday? Looking for seconds?"

Everyone, except Zoey and Dawn, laughed at this. Duncan gave a light chuckle, while Jo laughed a lot harder. Samey frowned, and went to go sit down, away from everyone else. She looked up at Dawn. She was giving a sympathetic smile. Samey remembered how she opened up to Dawn about her childhood and why she and Amy had such a rough relationship. She was someone that Samey could rely on, once the merge started. Samey, much more confident, returned the smile.

Amy noticed this, stopped laughing and scowled.

* * *

Back in first class, Noah was now sitting across from Gwen and Courtney, in the seats. Surprisingly the three were happily chatting together. Noah was surprised at how easy it was for him to make a conversation with the two. He couldn't believe how quickly they accepted him. _If only it were this easy with Jasmine_ he thought to himself. He sighed, causing Gwen and Courtney to look at him.

"Do you guys have any idea how I can get Jasmine to like me?" He said, feeling embarrassed about having to ask.

The Goth and the CIT looked at each other, unsure of what to say. They looked back at Noah. It seemed as though one of them was about to say something, until something caught their eye.

Noah was about to look when…

"I'm so excited..." Came a voice. It was revealed that Jasmine had just walked up to where the trio was sitting. She was standing next to Noah, with a wide smile.

"What's got you in such a good mood?" Gwen smirked.

"We're so close to the merge," Jasmine answered, giddily. "I might finally get to see my friend, Sammy."

"What's so special about her?" Courtney asked, curiously. Gwen didn't seem to appreciate the wording of Courtney's question and gave her a look. Courtney saw it and stammered to fix her wording. "I-I mean...why are you so close with her?"

Jasmine sighed, somewhat sadly. "Like I told you guys before, she has this really awful sister. Before me, Sammy didn't have a lot of friends." She paused, letting Gwen, Courtney and even Noah think about what she was saying. "I really want to be there for her during the merge."

There was an awkward silence in first class. No one knew what to say at first, but Gwen spoke, smiling. "I'm sure that she'll be thrilled to see you again too."

Jasmine smiled at the Goth's words of kindness. But her smile quickly faded once she realized something. She was so focused on talking to Gwen and Courtney, she didn't see Noah sitting directly next to her in his lounge chair. The two ended up looking eyes. The Brainiac gave an awkward smile, in an attempt to ease the mood. Jasmine didn't return it and stared at him, stone faced. Gwen and Courtney watched on, worried what might happen. Finally, without a word, Jasmine turned and walked away. The cheerful aura surrounding the team was suddenly gone and no one said a word.

The silence was interrupted by a noise. Gwen looked behind, from her chair and went wide eyed. Duncan, Samey, Amy, Dawn, Jo and Zoey had just walked into first class. When she saw her friend, Zoey smirked and walked ahead. Gwen smirked too and got out of her chair.

"Hey, Zoey." She said. Both embraced in a small hug. Jasmine noticed Samey and the two waved to each other. Courtney eyed the team suspiciously.

"What exactly are you doing here?" She got up and walked towards the opposing team. She stepped forward and pointed at a particular competitor. "Especially _you_, Duncan."

The Ex-Con remembered the last time he talked with Courtney. Not to mention, Gwen was also staring coldly at him as well. Instead he turned away. "Aren't you missing one?" he said, ignoring the question.

"Right here." A meek voice was heard.

Duncan turned back around to see Sanders walking up to them from behind Courtney and Gwen. The Ex-Con was shocked at the appearance of Sanders. Her eyelids looked heavy, her posture was terrible and her hair was a mess. She looked like she had slept in her regular clothes, instead of her PJs. Duncan stared for a few more seconds, much to the confusion of the rest of the competitors.

Zoey, thinking quickly, decided to break the tension. "We...we were called into first class for an announcement."

Courtney raised an eyebrow. "An announcement? We weren't told about any announcement."

"That's where I come in." All the competitors turned to see the host of the show, Chris McLean, and Chef walk towards them. Chris was carrying a silver briefcase in his hands. "Because it's challenge time."

The competitors looked confused. "What are you talking about?" Jo asked. "We haven't even landed."

Chris' smug grin widened. "I know that. Which is why today's challenge...will be happening...on the plane itself."

The Host was met with audible gasps and looks of confusion. He held up his hand to silence the murmuring. "Allow me to explain." He started. "While everyone was asleep, Chef and a whole bunch of interns went around the entire plane, hiding several of these." He pulled the briefcase he was holding up to his face. "These briefcases each contain a little prize for each of you. You may only hold one at a time, but you are allowed to trade for another. If you take a second case, you and your team will be disqualified. The winning team will get to keep whatever's inside the cases that your team is already holding." He pulled out a remote and pointed it at a nearby TV. The screen went to static for a brief second, before showing a picture of a briefcase with a yellow star on it. "The star case will signify the end of the challenge. If you find it _and_ grab it, you'll win for your team." He held up a finger. "But remember, if you take the briefcase without the rest of your team finding any other cases, that might not make you very popular. Just sayin'" The two teams nodded that they understood the challenge. Chris and Chef turned to walk away, but the host stopped and faced the competitors again. "Oh and by the way, this is going to be a reward challenge, so there will be no elimination tonight."

Some of the competitors were happy about this, but others weren't as jovial.

**Confessional (Amy): **"I guess my stupid sister can stay another day on the show. But she'll be going soon. Mark my words." She pointed aggressively at the camera.

Static

* * *

The challenge started right then and there. Most of the competitors decided to group up and plan a strategy. Other competitors decided to split up and start looking immediately. Samey had a big smile on her face.

**Confessional (Samey): **"Now that the merge is coming up, I'm gonna need to get some allies." She pondered. "I've been able to lay low for a while, but that won't work once the teams split. Jasmine will be easy, but I think getting Dawn on my side would also help."

Static

The Twin walked up to Dawn and the two exchanged a greeting.

"Dawn, do you wanna team up and look for some cases?"

The Moon Child smiled and nodded. The two walked through a door and started searching for the briefcases.

Amy watched the two walk away, and grimaced. Jo noticed this, but didn't say anything.

* * *

Gwen, Courtney, Noah and Jasmine were all huddled together.

"So, what's the plan?" Noah asked.

"I say we split up." Courtney said. "We'll cover more ground and it'll be easier for each of us to find cases."

Noah and Gwen nodded, but Jasmine wasn't convinced. "What if one of us finds the star case?"

"Well...just take it, then." Noah said, bluntly. "If we find it...we'll win the challenge."

Gwen raised an eyebrow. "But Chris said that all the briefcases contain a prize." She put her hands to her hips and looked at her teammates. "And I don't know about you guys, but I want a prize."

"You're starting to sound like me." Courtney giggled. Gwen chuckled too and punched her shoulder playfully. Jasmine smiled at the two, while Noah rolled his eyes.

But the Aussie's expression quickly changed to a glare at the Brainiac, who noticed this. "Alright...I got an idea." He said, trying to change the subject. "How about we all meet back here in a half an hour? If you find the Star Case, don't touch it. Just come back here and we'll discuss what we do next."

Gwen and Courtney shrugged their shoulders in acceptance. Noah looked at Jasmine, who crossed her arms and turned away. "I guess it's not a...selfish plan...or whatever."

Noah went wide-eyed in surprise and beamed.

**Confessional (Noah): **He was smiling. "Ok...She said that I wasn't being selfish. That's probably the nicest thing she's said to me so far. I might be able to pull this off." His smile soured the more he thought about it. "Or...maybe I'm just overthinking it."

Static

* * *

Duncan and Zoey had decided to team up and were going over their strategy. With the Shark Cowboys departure, they were the only ones still in first class. They were just about to leave, when Duncan noticed something. Someone was still sitting in one of the chairs. Duncan could only see the top of their head. Curious, he walked up to whoever it was. Zoey watched on. When Duncan had walked to the side of the occupied chair, he raised his unibrow in surprise.

"Hey…" Came a very subdued reply from Sanders. She hadn't even bothered to look up at the Ex-Con.

Now Duncan was confused. Zoey walked up next to him and gave an equal look of surprise at the state of the Cadet. After a few seconds of silence, Duncan finally spoke. "A-Are you alright?"

Sanders didn't answer for a while. Now Duncan and Zoey looked concerned. The Cadet sighed. "Chris said that this was a non-elimination round. Why even bother if I'm not going home tonight, right?"

Duncan's mouth went agape. He couldn't understand what Sanders was saying. "So...what _do _you plan on doing after this?"

Again, Sanders went silent. After a few seconds, she let out a long heavy sigh and turned her body so she was no longer facing Zoey and Duncan.

The Ex-Con was about to say something, but Zoey put her hand on his shoulder. She had a look that told Duncan that he should leave her alone. Duncan looked back at the aimless Cadet, and groaned in annoyance. Regretfully, he and Zoey walked out of first class and into the depths of the plane.

* * *

Noah, Gwen and Courtney were searching through the compartments of the loser class. Jasmine had decided to go her own way, so it was just those three. They figured they could split later on, if they had trouble finding anything. But Noah's mind was still on Jasmine. He looked at his teammates, while they looked in the overhead shelves.

**Confessional (Noah): **"I'm honestly surprised that Gwen and Courtney were willing to stick by me. I don't think Gwen ever really cared about me, and…" He paused, thinking to himself. "I don't think I've ever had a positive interaction with Courtney."

Static.

"So…" He started. Courtney and Gwen turned, waiting for the Brainiac's response. Noah had trouble deciding what to say. "By any chance, do you guys have any...ideas...to help me get on Jasmine's good side?"

The Goth and the CIT looked at each other, unsure of what to say. But soon, Gwen turned and sighed. "Honestly Noah, I do have one." The Brainiac perked up, but Gwen continued. "But I don't think I should tell you what it is."

Now Noah looked confused. "What are you talking about? Didn't you want to help me with this?"

Gwen raised an eyebrow and was about to say something, when Courtney jumped down and walked up to Noah. "No." She said, pointing a finger at him. "We never said we would help you make amends with Jasmine. That's your problem." She followed this up by putting her fists to her hips. "You got yourself in this hole, so you can get yourself out of it."

Noah was surprised by Courtney's declaration, but knew she made a good point. Knowing he wasn't going to get anything out of them, he decided to move onto another room. Courtney watched the Brainiac leave, then looked at Gwen. The Goth was now looking at the CIT, from her elevated position, with her a grin and her eyelids slightly lowered.

Courtney now looked embarrassed. "Stop looking at me like that." She said, turning away in the process.

Gwen chuckled. "Sorry. I just...I love it when you tell it like it is." Though she wasn't looking, Courtney couldn't help but blush and give a small smile. Gwen opened the last compartment, and to her delight, she found a briefcase. It didn't have a star on it, so she took it and dropped down. Courtney saw it and the two smiled. But they had to continue the challenge, so they headed to another door.

* * *

Jo and Amy were both searching in a darkly lit hallway. Neither had been able to find a briefcase. Amy was clearly frustrated over something as she aggressively opened hatches and doors. When she didn't find anything, she gritted her teeth and groaned loudly. Jo couldn't ignore the noise anymore.

"Hey, not that I care or anything," She spoke while looking through a crate. "But what's your deal?"

Amy slammed a hatch closed, getting nothing from it. She looked over at Jo. "Why do you care? It's none of your business."

Jo turned away from the crate and locked eyes with Amy. "I _care _because I don't want it affecting the alliance and our strategy."

Amy didn't say anything, really grappling with what she should say. Finally she threw up her arms and gave a frustrated sigh. "It's just...my stupid sister is _still _here. She should've been eliminated, back in L.A." Jo blinked, realizing the only reason Samey didn't go home back then was because of her plan to get rid of Lightning. Amy went on. "She doesn't deserve to be here, not like you or me."

Jo didn't respond. She couldn't explain why, but curiosity was getting the better of her. She tried to hold it back, but she couldn't anymore. "Why...do you hate your sister so much?" Jo said abruptly.

Amy looked at her teammate with almost a look of disgust. Her face even surprised Jo, who stepped back. But the scowl faltered, and turned to a look of uncertainty. She thought about lying so Jo wouldn't ask again, but she something bothered her about that. She made her decision and sighed.

"Back when we were little, our parents ended up getting divorced. I never found out why, though. At least...until I figured it out for myself." She paused, catching Jo's curiosity again. "After that, we would go from house to house, every week. With Mom, it was alright, but with Dad...it was different. With Daddy, I could basically get everything I ever wanted. I got to ride in the car with him, in the front seat, we'd got out for ice cream every weekend and I got to go to the toy store whenever I got a good grade from school." She gave a small smile, feeling a little nostalgic. But it quickly soured as she went on. "But Spare-amy? Spare-amy got none of those things." She suddenly turned to face Jo. "And do you wanna know why?" Jo was now feeling very awkward, regretting her decision to ask in the first place. "It's because she's just a worthless copy of me. So she deserved nothing. That's why Daddy never gave her anything. I deserved it, while she deserved nothing."

She paused for a few seconds, allowing Jo to notice just how awkward her situation was. Finally, Amy annoyingly walked away, leaving Jo alone in the dimly lit hall.

**Confessional (Jo): **She stared at the camera, trying to find the words to say something. She looked around awkwardly. "I…I never thought I would say this but...I'm glad I don't have any siblings."

Static

* * *

"...And that's when Amy locked me in the boys locker room. It was mortifying and everyone called me 'Sam the Dude.'"

Dawn and Samey were walking through the first class section of the plane. Like Amy and Jo, neither had been able to find a briefcase. Samey had been recalling embarrassing moments that her sister caused for her.

"...And it only got worse during High School because we had almost all the same classes together. I never got a moment's peace with her." Her tone sombered as she looked down. Dawn gave a sympathetic look, as well as pat on the shoulder. Samey noticed this, and tried to change the mood. "S-Sorry about that I...I don't get a lot of chances to talk about this...I hope it doesn't bother you, or anything."

"Sammy, you've done nothing wrong." Dawn said, kindly. "You shouldn't have to apologize for talking about what's bothering you."

Samey chuckled and looked at her new friend. "...Thanks, Dawn. It's nice to have someone else to talk to. I just hope I get to see Jasmine soon."

"She sounds like a great friend." She stopped where she was and looked at the empty set of seats next to them. Samey stopped a few feet ahead and turned around, confused. "Would you like to talk about it?" Dawn motioned to the seats for them to sit down.

Samey was surprised, but smiled.

"But first…" Dawn pushed the recliner chair back, and lifted the leg rest. Strapped underneath it, was a briefcase (No star). She took it and handed it over to the Twin. Samey was again surprised by Dawn's generosity, but happily took the case and the two took a seat.

* * *

Duncan and Zoey were in the kitchen area of the plane. It had two large tables and several seats surrounding them. Zoey was looking under one of the tables, but Duncan had been standing in the middle of the room, deep in thought. When Zoey failed to find anything, she sighed and walked towards her teammate. "No luck, do you think we should move to the next room?"

Duncan didn't answer. Mostly because he wasn't paying attention. Zoey gave him a look. It took Duncan a few moments for the Ex-Con to realize he was being looked at. He saw Zoey's curious expression and blinked.

"What?" He said, unsure.

Zoey crossed her arms. "What's on your mind?"

Duncan soon realized why Zoey was looking at him and pretended to look busy. "Uh...you know, just wondering where Chris hid those stupid cases." He looked through a built in trash bin, pretending he saw it. "You know I think it might be in here…" He picked the trash, one by one and tossed them to the floor. Zoey frowned. Surprisingly, Duncan actually found a briefcase. Even he was shocked by it. He reached in and pulled it out, smiling at his prize. This one did not have a star on it. He gave an uncharacteristically wide smile. Zoey looked at him, uncomfortably. "See...right here. Told ya I'd find it. Now let's move on and find one for you and-"

"Duncan!" Zoey held out her arms, silencing the Ex-Con. He was caught off guard by Zoey's sudden outburst. He might have said something, but the Indie Chick cut him off. "Duncan, I know something's bothering you. I might have an idea on what it is, but I don't think you want to talk about it." Duncan put his arms down and started to calm down. "If you don't want to talk about it, fine. But stop acting like nothing's wrong. It's really weird, and to be honest, it's kinda creepy."

Duncan blinked for a few seconds, and to Zoey's surprise, he chuckled. "Sorry…" He said, still laughing. But he stopped, and looked more relaxed. "And thanks for not asking, I just…" He stopped. Then he held up the briefcase and focused on it. Zoey watched on, wondering what was happening. Finally, Duncan put his arm down and walked out the room. "I need to do something."

Before Zoey could ask, Duncan was already out of the room. Now it was just her, alone with her thoughts.

* * *

Noah was still by himself. He was walking back through the loser class. But this time, he had a briefcase in his arms. It didn't have a star though. He was just heading to the curtain, when he stopped. He noticed someone walking through it from the other side. He instantly knew who it was by her height.

Jasmine stopped in her tracks, right as she walked through the entrance curtain and the two locked eyes. A few awkward seconds of silence passed by, with neither teammates moving.

"Any luck finding a case?" Noah finally asked, meekly

Jasmine did, in fact, not have any briefcases with her. The Aussie sighed in annoyance and started to turn and walk out the other way, when…

"Do you need help finding any?"

Jasmine paused, halfway out the curtain. Noah decided to continue. "I'm small enough, maybe I can find one in a hard to reach area…"

Jasmine thought about what Noah just said. She was still mad at him, for all the terrible things he had said, and done, to her. But...she also really hated being empty handed. Noah watched her, hoping for the best. Reluctantly, Jasmine turned around and glared at the Brainiac. Noah looked worried.

"Fine." Jasmine said, annoyed. Noah started to smile, but Jasmine pointed at him. But don't say _anything_ to me, got it?"

Noah smirked, and was about to say 'yes' but remembered what Jasmine just said, and instead nodded. Still annoyed, the Aussie walked through the curtain. Noah followed.

Duncan walked through the curtain, going in the other direction. Neither competitors took notice of each other.

He walked up to the entrance that separated the loser class and first class, and stopped. He looked at the briefcase in his hand, and sighed. He was about to walk through, when he heard a noise from behind him. He suddenly turned around and saw who it was. Gwen had just walked into the room, from the other side. She didn't see Duncan. She had the briefcase in her hand, and took a seat at the nearby bench. Duncan turned all the way around, and faced her. She still hadn't looked up. The Ex-Con took a step towards her. His foot step made Gwen look up. She was surprised when she finally noticed who was in the same room as her. She stood up quickly and turned to walk out.

"Wait, Gwen" Duncan took a step forward, but Gwen didn't stop. "Gwen, I need to talk to you."

"Well, I don't." She spat.

She was about to walk out the room, when Duncan chased her and grabbed her wrist. Gwen tried to shake him off, but the Ex-Con's grip was too tight. She looked pissed.

"Let go of me." She said coldly, glaring directly at him.

Duncan didn't. "I need to talk to you about something."

Gwen tried pulling away again. "I already told you I don't-"

"I just wanted to say that I'm sorry." He said, abruptly. "Please, just give me a chance to talk."

He sounded desperate at this point. Gwen tried to pull away again, but gave up. She sighed and looked at him, still bitter. "Whatever."

Duncan sighed, still not letting go of her wrist. "I-I'm really sorry about what happened. Not just over the past few weeks, but everything. I was an idiot back in All-Stars, and I would give anything to take it all back." Gwen didn't say anything. She had turned away again.

"So you didn't mean to insult my-" She caught her words and quickly thought of something else to say. "When you insulted Courtney, was that just an accident?" She sounded bitter.

Duncan sighed again, cringing at his mistake. "I'd be lying if I said 'yes', but I was just really frustrated and I'm...I'm learning how to be a better person. Please...believe me."

Gwen slowly started to look up. She saw the pleading expression in the eyes of her ex-boyfriend. She was still mad, but knew Duncan wasn't going to take 'no' for an answer. She sighed again, annoyed. Not at the Ex-Con, but for what she was about to do.

"Duncan…" She sounded defeated. "I'm still mad at you, for a lot of reasons." She paused, making Duncan think it wouldn't work. "But...once the merge happens, I'll...find time for the two of us...to talk. I'm willing to hear you out and...I will give you my _final_ answer."

Duncan exhaled, feeling a huge weight lifted off his shoulders. "Thank you...Gwen." He remembered his hand, and released his grip on Gwen's wrist. This time, she didn't run. She quickly pointed her finger in the Ex-Con's face. "_Don't _get your hopes up." Duncan stepped back, surprised.

The two shared an awkward glance, before Gwen decided to leave. But as she walked out, Duncan spoke up. "I really missed you...while I was in jail."

Gwen stopped in her tracks. Duncan hoped she would say something. After a few more seconds, she continued walking, out of sight.

**Confessional (Duncan): **The Ex-Con had a huge grin on his face. He put both his hands behind his head and leaned back. "Mission...accomplished." Then a look of uncertainty appeared on his face. "I...think."

* * *

Jasmine and Noah were on the other side of first class. They had just found a briefcase, wedged behind one of the chairs. Noah was on his knees about to go in. He had put his case to the side. The Brainiac looked at the tall Aussie, and gave an awkward smile. Jasmine responded by rolling her eyes.

"Just get the briefcase out and give it to me." Jasmine barked

Noah sighed. "Don't worry. I already have a case, so I don't need to take another." He thought for a moment. "...or rather, I can't _take_ another." He chuckled, trying to ease the tension.

It didn't work as Jasmine just gave him a dull look. At least she didn't look mad.

Noah figured he better do what he said he would do and walked towards the case. The gap was tight, so Noah had to wriggle around to reach it. Jasmine watched him.

"Hurry up." She said

"I'm almost there." Noah grunted. He was getting closer and closer to the case.

Jasmine suddenly realized something. She walked directly behind Noah and leaned in. "Does that briefcase have a star on it?" She said, panicked.

Noah was just about to grab the case. "I...don't...think so." He struggled to reach it, with his hand inches away. He was so busy focusing on the case, he didn't see a spider on the wall next to him. It jumped onto Noah's arm and crawled towards his face.

This startled Noah and he yelped in terror. He was so scared by what happened, he lost control of himself for a moment. He picked up his leg from the ground, as he was backing up, and kicked it. Problem was, Jasmine had been leaning towards him. She didn't have time to react to Noah's foot, and ended up getting kicked directly in the face. She grabbed her face and staggered backwards, groaning in pain. Noah crawled out from the crevice, brushing himself off. Fortunately, the spider was off of him. He sighed in relief. Unfortunately, he turned and saw the moaning Aussie, on the floor, clutching her nose. Noah quickly realized what happened, stood up and walked towards her.

"Jasmine, are you alright?"

He was about to check if Jasmine was indeed alright, but she pushed him away. Now Noah was met with the now pissed off Aussie. But her face wasn't red from her anger, it was from the foot mark on her face. At least, that's what he thought. She pushed him away, causing the Brainiac to stumble.

"You...Drongo!" She started to stand up, rubbing her face.

Noah stepped towards her. "Jasmine that was-"

Jasmine blocked him by putting out her arm. "Bugger off!" She sounded very bitter. "You're a liar. You haven't changed at all!"

She turned and walked out of the room, without a briefcase. Noah now looked disappointed. He knew the kick was an accident, but now he seemed to be right back at square one because of it.

* * *

Courtney was alone as she entered the cargo hold. She found several crates, most with nets around them, but some weren't. She had already discovered several cases on the way to the cargo hold, but had chosen to look for the one with the star. She looked behind and in-between the crates. She thought for a moment, taking in her surroundings. She noticed one specific crate, pushed up next to a wall. It wasn't strapped down like some of the others.

Curiously she walked up to it. She looked in-between it and the wall.

To her delight, it was another case. But she couldn't see if it had a star on it. She grabbed the crate and pushed it off the wall. It was heavy, but not too big to move. Finally, she got it out of the way, and the case fell to the floor. Courtney looked at it and grinned.

It _did_ have the star on it.

She was about to pick it up, but stopped herself. She remembered the plan that was made with her team. It was nearing the 30 minute mark and they were all set to meet up soon.

Courtney had no idea if her team had found any other cases. She only knew Gwen had a case, but she also figured Gwen wouldn't like it if she put the needs of herself over the team. Reluctantly, Courtney decided not to take the case just yet. But she also figured it wouldn't be a good idea to leave it out in the open. But she also knew that it would be very hard to hide the case without touching it. She looked around and noticed a small tarp hanging on the wall. She picked it up and threw it over the case. Certain it was hidden, Courtney sprinted out of the cargo hold to find her team.

* * *

"...And by that point, everyone was finally over Amy shoving me into the locker room. But then she decided to dye my hair pink while I was asleep." Samey cupped her hands across her face. "I had to go to every football game, with bright pink hair. It was mortifying. All the parents were giving me awkward stares. And Mom just kept saying that everything was fine and that sisters like to play pranks on each other..."

Dawn nodded as Samey went on about the various ways Amy made her life absolutely miserable. She hadn't said much, but knew that letting Samey vent was the proper thing to do. The Twin sighed. "...and then, Pahkitew Island happened and after I was eliminated, I finally realized that I could stand up for myself and...I wanted to move out, but I was too young."

Dawn put her hands together. "What happened after that?"

Samey paused, before giving another long sigh. "Dad insisted that it was my fault that we lost...or rather than Amy lost. Like I was just there to keep her from getting eliminated." She sounded very bitter, and she frowned, looking down at the table. But to Dawn's surprise, her look quickly calmed down. "But Mom? Mom actually stood up for me. She finally stopped pretending everything was okay and...apologized to me. She actually helped save some money for my first apartment."

Dawn gave a very happy look to her friend. "I'm really happy to hear that, Sammy."

Samey returned it, then she chuckled. "You know? I probably should've gotten a therapist for this kind of thing, but with you, it's a lot less expensive."

The two shared a laugh. Neither cared about the challenge and were content with each other's company. Little did either of them know, out of eye sight, Amy was leaning on the wall, just outside the First Class area. She gritted her teeth and lurked away.

Samey got out of her chair and stretched her arms. "I'll be right back, I need to use the bathroom."

Dawn nodded, as her friend turned and walked away. It was quiet for a bit, which Dawn had no issue with. But the silence was interrupted by the sound of a curtain being moved. She turned around and went wide eyed.

Duncan had just entered the First Class section. He hadn't seen Dawn yet. He was standing next to a table, with a briefcase in his hands. Dawn looked over to it and noticed that Sanders was at the table. She was asleep. The Moon Child watched, in surprise, as Duncan put his briefcase onto the table, occupied by the sleeping cadet. He was being very careful not to wake her up. Once he put the case on the table, he started to back away. But he stopped when he realized his pale teammate was looking at him. The two uncomfortably locked eyes for a few seconds. Duncan looked very tense. He held his index finger up to his mouth signaling to Dawn not to say a word. The Moon Child didn't respond at first, but smiled and nodded. Duncan's mood immediately calmed down, and he mouthed something to her, before walking out of the room. Dawn couldn't be sure, but she was sure Duncan just said 'thank you.'

"Whatcha looking at?" Dawn almost jumped, as she turned around. Samey returned and sat back down in her seat. "Were you talking to someone?" She asked.

Dawn thought for a bit. "No. Just...thinking to myself."

Samey raised an eyebrow, but shrugged and went back to talking with her friend.

* * *

Courtney ran into first class, past Dawn and Samey. She paced around, waiting for the rest of her team. Sanders was still asleep in the spot they all left her. She didn't see the briefcase on the table. After a few seconds, Gwen and Noah appeared. Both had uncomfortable looks on their faces. Both were carrying briefcases.

"Let me guess." Noah sighed, looking at the goth. "Did you screw up big time too?"

Gwen rubbed her arm. "I hope not…"

The two noticed the panicked Courtney running towards them. "Ok, now that you two are here, we need to-." She blinked, and looked between her two teammates. "Where's Jasmine?"

Noah cringed at the mere mention of the Aussie's name. "Probably trying to avoid me…"

Courtney didn't bother asking. "We need to go now." She pointed to the door.

Noah slunked down in a nearby seat, still looking miserable. "What? Did you find something?"

"Yes, you idiot." Courtney whispered aggressively to him. She then finally noticed that her two teammates both had briefcases already. "Alright, since you two have cases already, come with me and keep guard while I get the star case."

"Where are we headed?" Noah mumbled, not really caring.

Courtney was now starting to get frustrated. "We need to go to the cargo hold, right now. Now get your lazy butt in gear and help us actually win this challenge."

Courtney seethed and, while Noah didn't change his expression, Gwen went wide eyed. And she wasn't looking at Courtney.

"Ummm...Court'." She pointed beyond where the CIT was looking.

Courtney turned around and froze. Behind her, standing near the doorway, were Jo and Amy. Both were smirking. Before Courtney could do anything, the two Bobcats turned around and ran through the door Courtney just came from. The CIT knew where they were heading and sprinted after them. Gwen followed from behind, leaving Noah to sulk by himself.

**Confessional (Noah): **He still looked defeated. "I already failed once today…" He let out a heavy sigh. "...That's enough for one day."

Static.

The sudden shock of Gwen and Courtney running, woke the sleeping Sanders from her nap. She looked around, slowly getting her sense back. She yawned and looked down at her table. That's when she noticed the briefcase on the table. She wasn't sure how it got there. She also saw Noah, sitting by himself.

"Did Courtney or Gwen put this here?" She asked, pointing at the case.

Noah looked at her and shrugged. "No idea."

Sanders looked back at her newly acquired case, puzzled as to how it got there.

* * *

Jo and Amy quickly ran towards the entrance of the cargo hold. Courtney and Gwen followed close behind, but stopped just outside the entrance. The CIT turned to her teammate.

"If you find the case, don't just say that you've found it. Signal me and I'll take it." She turned to walk in, but stopped. "Unless you want it."

Gwen smiled, but shook her head, content with the case she already had. Courtney nodded and the two went in. Amy and Jo hadn't immediately hound the case. They didn't see the two Shark Cowboys enter. Quietly, Courtney and Gwen moved towards where the case was. But after a few steps, the plane suddenly started shaking. All four competitors tried to keep balance. Gwen and Amy grabbed a nearby pole. Courtney flung her eyes around. Jo couldn't grab onto anything and ended up falling to the floor. But the case that was behind the crate suddenly became unwedged and fell to the floor. Jo, Amy, Courtney and Gwen watched as the case became visible.

"It's mine." Jo declared. She took a step forward, but the plane shook again. Jo was slammed into the roof of the plane and back to the floor. "OW!" She rubbed her head. "What is Chef doing up there?"

* * *

Back at the cockpit, Chef was jiggling around with the controls, laughing maniacally. Chris watched him, in the co-pilot's seat. Then he looked at the camera and shrugged. "Look, we gotta make the challenge more interesting. Who ever said that I would make it easy for these guys? They've been through worse." He looked back at Chef. "Now, make the plane go down."

Chef grinned mischievously and pushed the controls forward, sending the plane downwards.

The four competitors still in the cargo hold, tried their best to hang onto something, but Jo and Gwen hit the ceiling and then fell back to the floor. The case was also sent up in the air briefly. When the plane leveled out, it bounced on the floor. Jo tried to lunge for it, but she mistimed the bounce and crashed into the wall behind it.

She rubbed her head in pain. She saw Courtney making her way towards her. Thinking quickly, Jo kicked the briefcase in her direction. Since she didn't grab it, the challenge still went on. Courtney saw the oncoming case, and ducked. Gwen wasn't as lucky, as the star case smacked her in the head, knocking her down in the process. The bounce sent the case up the stairs and out of the room. Jo got up and ran up the stairs. Courtney turned and chased her.

* * *

Dawn and Samey were still in their usual seats, but the Cheerleading Twin was noticeably shaken from the plane's sudden drop. Dawn...didn't look phased at all. The case bounced into the room. Both watched it, and before they could do anything, Jo ran in as well. The case kept bouncing, making it harder for her to catch. She looked up and saw Zoey entering the room from the other side.

"Hey, Red." The Jockette shouted. "Send the case my way."

"Huh?" Zoey stopped. She hadn't noticed the case. It bounced again on the floor and nailed the Indie Chick in the face. Jo smirked. The star case was now heading towards her. It flew through the air, towards her waiting arms. But at the moment, the plane tilted upwards slightly. It surprised the Jockette and sent her off balance. She reached and grabbed for the case, but ended up falling backwards. She watched the case, disappear out of her vision and bounce again, just missing her head. It went through the air again. Jo could do nothing but watch it head straight towards the waiting arms of…

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...Courtney.

The CIT held the case up triumphantly. "Yes!" She screamed

Gwen, who was at the entrance to the cargo hold, with a case in hand, cheered for the win. Amy, who was standing next to her, groaned. Samey and Dawn got out of their chairs, while Duncan and Jasmine also entered from the opposite end. Noah also stood up, still with his briefcase.

"And it looks like the winners of the challenge are...The Shark Cowboys." Chris entered the first class section. While Gwen and Courtney hugged in celebration, Chris looked around. "And it looks like Gwen, Courtney and Noah will get to enjoy their prizes."

"Forgot one."

Everyone turned around to see Sanders, standing in front of them, presenting her case for their eyes to see. Courtney and Gwen were both surprised by this. Sanders noticed the expression, and, thinking about the case, looked at Duncan, who was helping Zoey to her feet.

"Thanks." Zoey said, clutching her nose. Duncan had a noticeable smirk on his face. Zoey noticed it. "What are you smiling about?"

Duncan nodded his head in the direction of the Shark Cowboys. Zoey noticed and immediately figured out it was about Gwen. She looked back at her teammate. "Did you have an actual talk with her, without accidentally hurting her? Physically or emotionally?" Duncan gave a proud nod. "Huh." Zoey said, before smiling. "Good job." She held her hand up for a high five. Duncan happily returned it.

"Alright, Bobcats." Chris cut in. "You guys aren't sending anyone home, but I will be sending all your butts down to the Loser Class. Because you are losers."

Most of the Vengeful Bobcats rolled their eyes at Chris, but Dawn and Samey shrugged, happy with each other's company. Amy eyed them as they walked away.

**Confessional (Amy): **"I might need to change a few things in my strategy…"

Static

* * *

As Duncan and Zoey exited First Class, Sanders watched the Ex-Con. He hadn't bothered to look in her direction. She then looked down at her briefcase.

Was he-?

"When did you get a briefcase?" Jasmine interrupted the Cadet's thoughts.

Sanders wasn't sure how to answer at first. She didn't have the exact answer, but now she knew that someone on her team didn't put the case on the table.

"Oh, it just kinda...dropped in front of me." Sanders chuckled. Jasmine shrugged at the answer.

"Alright, Shark Cowboys. Since your team won, you all get to enjoy whatever you have in your briefcases."

Gwen wasted little time and opened up her case. She was immediately surprised because in it was...a single bag of cheesy chips. Gwen was less than satisfied, but considering it was the best she was getting, she just shrugged and opened it.

Noah went to open his case next. But before he did, he looked at Jasmine. The Aussie was noticeably upset at the fact that she was only one, on her team, not to get a case. Noah looked back at his own case, and gave an unsure look. He contemplated opening it, but decided to step back.

"This doesn't feel right. I don't want it." He stood back, with his arms crossed.

Jasmine looked at the Brainiac, slightly surprised at this. Chris jumped in and took the case.

"Too bad. No trade-sies."

Courtney was excited as she opened her case. She snapped open the hatches, opened the case and found...nothing. Absolutely nothing. The CIT looked confused, and then annoyed.

"What is the meaning of this? I should be owed a prize."

Chris shrugged. "Well you got a nice briefcase out of it."

Courtney was about to go on a rant, when she remembered something. During the World Tour season, she remembered how Heather had thrown away a useful item that could've helped them in a later challenge. Courtney figured that the star case _was_ her prize, and that she should hold onto it. She didn't say anything, but stood back with a grin on her face. Gwen offered some of the cheesy chips, which the CIT happily accepted.

Sanders was the last to open her case. Most of her team decided to go sit down and start relaxing. The Cadet popped the hatches and opened the case. Her prize was two metal keychains. One with an angry looking bobcat on it and the other of a shark, wearing a cowboy hat, riding a horse. She picked both of them up and eyed them.

"The producers were developing some merch for the season and wanted to give a cast member a prototype." Chris explained. He then started reaching towards them. "I'll just take the Bobcat one, since you don't need it."

Sanders thought for a second, before pulling away.

"No it's fine." Sanders said, a little defensively. "I figured...Macarthur might want a souvenir when all of this is over. So I think I'll keep both."

Chris was confused, but shrugged anyway. Sanders looked at her two keychains and, for the first time in a while, smiled.

But it was quickly interrupted by Chris, shoving her out of frame. He looked at the camera. "No elimination today, but with only eleven competitors remaining, that can only mean one thing...and you'll just have to find out what that is...next time on...Total...Drama...L...egends!"

* * *

**So I kinda had to push myself a little to get this chapter out on time. You can mostly blame a lack of motivation and my own procrastinating habits. But it's here and I hope everyone enjoys it. This was a little different, because I focused less on the challenge and more on the character interactions. Which is probably why the climax feels a little rushed, but that's just me. I have a few surprises in store for the next few chapters, so look out for that. As always, peace be with ya.**

* * *

Vengeful Bobcats: Amy, Samey, Duncan, Dawn, Zoey and Jo

Shark Cowboys: Gwen, Courtney, Sanders, Noah and Jasmine

Placement:

22nd: Sierra

21st: Lightning

20th: Tyler

19th: Leshawna

18th: Mike

17th: Cody

16th: Heather

15th: Alejandro

14th: Owen

13th: Macarthur

12th: Scott


	14. Heat Defeat

**Remember to leave a review for this chapter once you're done reading it. **

* * *

**Gman: Glad you liked it **

**DramaBuddy: Thanks. Much appreciated**

**Big Bobby: Interesting Prediction. Let's see if you're right.**

**Infinity Wizard: I am fully aware that I am spelling the name wrong. That's all I leave you with. Thanks and awesome review. **

**A: Very interesting prediction. **

* * *

The McPlane is high in the sky, as Chris did his recap. "Previously, on Total Drama Legends. Eleven competitors took to the skies in a high flying, sky driving, wind riding challenge. Get it? Because it all happened on the McPlane itself. Everyone got to explore all the wonderful parts of my jumbo jet, in search of special briefcases that would bring them their reward. That's right. This was a reward challenge, so no one went home. But that doesn't mean nothing happened. Samey found a new friend in a certain psychic, Duncan talked to Gwen without accidentally maiming her for once and Noah tried to make amends with Jasmine yet again, but this time, it backfired like a...kick to the face." He chuckled. "In the end, Courtney gave the win her team, but it was a reward challenge, so no one went home."

The camera flashed to reveal Chris, walking through the halls of the first class section. He was rubbing sunscreen on his arms and was wearing a blue Hawian shirt and sunglasses. "Today's challenge will put the competitors to the test, and make some of them sweat. And trust me, we're really gonna crank up the temperature for this one. Find out who's gonna beat the heat and who'll face the agony of defeat, right now, on...Total...Drama...Legends!"

* * *

The Vengeful Bobcats were all asleep in their loser class accomodations. Since there were no beds, they could only use the long benches to sleep on. Needless to say, it was not comfortable. All six of them lay in uncomfortable positions, except for Dawn, who was laying flat on her back with her hands laying across her stomach. Duncan was sleeping next to her, and Zoey next to him. Zoey was laying on her side, while Duncan slept in a sitting up, with his back against the metal frame of the plane.

It was quiet until Chris' voice sounded loudly over the intercom. "TESTING TESTING. COMPETITORS THIS IS YOUR WAKE UP CALL! RISE AND SHINE!"

Most of the Bobcats were jolted awake, with Zoey rolling herself off the bench and onto the floor. Samey, Amy and Jo were also startled and looked around in surprise. Jo jumped up and, instinctively, took a fighting stance. After a few seconds, everyone started to calm down, but they were still tense.

Chris' voice laughed over the speaker. "Oh, man. That was hilarious." The Bobcats looked up at the intercom and glared at it. "Anyways...we'll be landing soon, so everyone be ready and prepared to bring your A-game. Trust me, you really don't wanna fall behind in today's challenge." The intercom shut off and the competitors groaned, both from their sleeping conditions and the wake up call.

Duncan rubbed his eyes. He still hadn't fully woken up. He didn't see Dawn slowly rising from her sleeping position. Duncan looked to his side, and jumped in fright, seeing the Moon Child now directly next to him. He heard Zoey laughing lightly at him.

The Ex-Con rolled his eyes and looked back at his red-headed friend. "I'm glad you think me almost getting a heart attack by that weirdo is funny to you." He said, mostly joking.

Zoey stood up, still chuckling. "Oh, come on. You like her." Duncan rolled his eyes and frowned, but was clearly trying to hold back his smile. Zoey figured she should change the topic. "So what's gonna happen with you and Gwen?"

Duncan gave an unsure look. "I don't know, honestly. She told me not to get my hopes up, but...maybe she'll change her mind once I talk to her. Hopefully." Zoey gave a comforting smile, but it faded after a bit. She looked back at the ground, somewhat sadly. Duncan was confused why she looked upset, but realized something. "Do you...do you still miss your boyfriend...Ma-" He stopped himself. "Mike?"

Zoey didn't say anything at first. After a few seconds of silence, she sighed. "Well yeah, of course. I mean it's not like I ever stopped missing him, I just...I wish he could still be here." An awkward silence fell. Duncan didn't know what to say. He looked behind him, in hopes that Dawn could help, but she had mysteriously disappeared. He looked back and scratched the back of his head, struggling to think of something to say. Luckily, he didn't have to. Zoey turned to him. "It's fine." She said, laughing slightly. "You don't have to say anything. I just…" She sighed again. "Honestly, I never thought I'd say this, but…" She started to smile. "Hanging out with you and Dawn has really helped me get through this. So...thanks."

Duncan didn't know how to respond. He liked hanging around Zoey too, but was too stubborn to say it. He looked awkwardly at her and gave her an even more awkward pat on her shoulder. Zoey laughed. Duncan couldn't help but smile at this. Neither had realized Dawn was back in her original seat. The Ex-Con looked behind him and saw her. She was grinning, cheekily, at him. Duncan rolled his eyes, while Zoey smiled.

On the other side, Amy watched the trio chat, giving most of the attention to Dawn. She didn't look happy.

**Confessional (Amy): **She rubbed her finger across her chin. "I don't want to use my invincibility statue right now, it's too early. I still need Jo to think I'm on her side." She thought for a moment and frowned. "Stupid Samey. Why did she have to stay this long into the game?"

* * *

Meanwhile, up in first class, Gwen and Noah were sitting across from each other. Both looked uncomfortable. But it had nothing to do with their seats.

"So, what are you gonna do now?" Gwen asked

Noah sighed. "I don't know. I thought I was getting close, but after yesterday, I'm pretty much back where I started with Jasmine." He looked down. Gwen gave him a sympathetic look. "So what are you gonna tell Duncan?"

Gwen squirmed at the mere mention of the Ex-Con. "I...I have an idea of what I'm gonna tell him...I just hope he doesn't flip out." She paused. Noah looked up at her, trying to read her face. "Honestly, I kinda hope he gets eliminated before we get a chance to talk. Heck, if it comes down to it, I'll take going home myself rather than having the talk."

Noah looked surprised at the Goth's response. "Wow, I didn't expect that kind of coldness from you." He thought for a sec, before snickering. "But yet again, you _were_ a backstabbing boyfriend kisser, so I shouldn't be that surprised." He laughed, while Gwen stared at him, with an annoyed expression. The Brainiac noticed and, still laughing, held his hands out. "Sorry, sorry. I meant that as a joke. Gotta laugh at yourself sometimes."

Gwen still looked annoyed, but her mood faded. She couldn't help but chuckle too.

**Confessional (Gwen): **"I never thought I'd say this but…Noah's not the worst person I've ever talked with."

Static.

The two continued to laugh, but stopped when they heard a noise. It sounded like light thumps from something hollow. They both looked and saw what it was. Courtney was sitting on one of the bar stools, happily tapping away on her starred briefcase. She was making a little musical beat, as she hummed to herself. Gwen smiled, while looking at her. Noah looked back at Gwen, and noticed her expression. He smirked.

"Does Duncan know about _that_?"

Gwen broke from her trance and stared at the Brainiac. She looked confused at first, but when she realized what he meant, she went wide eyed. "How did you-"

Noah cut her off. "Please. I have a triple digit IQ, nothing gets past me." He said, still smirking. "...also the 'angel' thing, back on the Island. was also kind of a giveaway."

Gwen wasn't sure how to react. She felt slightly embarrassed, but also very nervous. She trusted Noah enough not to reveal anything without her permission, but he made a very good point. How _would_ Duncan react?

* * *

On the other side of First Class, Jasmine and Sanders were sitting across from each other. Jasmine had her hand on her cheek and her elbow was resting against her leg. She was deep in thought, and looking bitter. The Cadet was holding her two prizes, from the last challenge, in both of her hands. Her mind raced over what she should do with them. Figuring she wasn't going to get anything out of staring at the keychains, she put them down. She looked up at the unhappy Aussie.

"Are you ok?" The Cadet asked.

Jasmine noticed Sanders and, still looking mad, groaned. "Not really." She sat upright. "I'm just annoyed I didn't get anything from the last challenge."

Sanders wasn't entirely buying it. "That's it?"

Jasmine looked up, realizing that Sanders could see right through her. The Aussie gritted her teeth. "No. It's that little..._worm_. He just…" She breathed in through her nose, and calmed herself down. "I just wish he would go home already."

Sanders didn't say anything at first. She looked curiously at Jasmine. "I don't know if he actually meant to kick you in the face."

Like Sanders, Jasmine didn't say anything at first. "Whether he meant to or not, it doesn't matter. I'm not about to forgive him for all the crap he put me through." She paused, letting the bitterness take over. "He's done nothing to earn my forgiveness."

Sanders watched on, unsure. Though she never saw what happened, she didn't believe Noah actually meant to physically hurt Jasmine. Or at least, she hoped that wasn't the case. But she also figured Jasmine wasn't going to be convinced, so decided to not continue. Instead, she looked back down at her keychains and continued to think about what she should do next.

* * *

While the rest of her team had dispersed to do their own things, Samey sat comfortably in her seat. She was in a very good mood.

**Confessional (Samey): **She had a huge smile on her face. "I don't know when but I know we're getting closer to the merge." She put her hand into fists and excitedly held them together under her chin. "That means I finally get to see Jasmine again." Suddenly, a thought crossed her. "Maybe I can introduce Dawn to her." Her expression then faltered. "Or would that be too soon." Then panic struck her. "Oh god, what if they don't like each other?"

**Confessional (Dawn): **"Sammy's aura is certainly interesting. I mean, it's far nicer than that…" She shuttered. "...witch, known as Heather." She quickly calmed herself down. "It's filled with uncertainty, but behind it, is the soul of a mighty warrior."

**Confessional (Samey): **She was now sitting, with her arms cupped around her knees, shaking back and forth. She looked paranoid. "...but what if Jasmine thinks the whole aura reading is too weird. Well, I mean she's already dating Shawn, so maybe she won't think that much of it." She continued to rock. "Oh, now that just sounds really insensitive. I should apologize to Jasmine the next time I see her...and probably Shawn...and just to be safe, also Dawn."

Static

Samey looked up from her seat, and saw Dawn walking past her. She got up and walked up to her. "Hey, Dawn." The Moon Child turned and smiled at her friend. Once she had gotten close enough, Samey started to feel very nervous. She held her arm, trying to find the right words. "I was...I was wondering if you...wanted...to form…" She chuckled, awkwardly. "...an...alliance with me...and my friend...if she says yes...that is?"

"Jasmine?" Dawn asked.

Samey smiled, relieved. "Yes her-" She stopped. "How did you know?" She chuckled. "You probably read my aura, right?"

Dawn gave a blank expression. "No. You talked about her all day, yesterday.."

Samey's jovial mood quickly changed to shame and disappointment. She grabbed her arm again, her face going red. "Oh...sorry" She said, worried Dawn would be upset.

But, thankfully, Dawn smiled. "It's ok, Sammy. I would love to be in an alliance with both of you. I think it would be very beneficial for all of us."

Samey perked up at this, and sighed in relief. The two shared a happy glance, until they were interrupted by the sound of Chris' voice over the intercom.

"Competitors, please strap in because we are moments away from our destination. I'll need everyone to meet at the exit hatch once the plane has landed. The challenge will begin shortly after that. And I hope everyone likes the sun because you're about to get very acquainted with it." He cackled as the intercom went off, leaving the Bobcats and Cowboys to wonder what would be in store for them.

* * *

The McPlane was making its descent onto a desert landscape. There were cacti spread out the land, and a few small mountains. The plane touched down, causing dust to fly everywhere.

Soon, all the competitors were off the plane. Considering they were in a desert, the competitors were not having fun dealing with the heat. Everyone was dripping with sweat and panting. But Dawn, despite still wearing her sweater, showed no sign of being bothered by the heat.

Duncan stared at her, confused by . "You are so weird."

Dawn shrugged, while Duncan rolled his eyes. Tired of the heat, he took off his shirt, to reveal his black tank top, and he tied his shirt around his waist. No one took notice of this. Almost no one. Despite several competitors standing between them, Sanders couldn't help but try and catch a glimpse at the half-shirtless Ex-Con. She tried to look away, but was finding it _very _difficult. Jo was also looking at Duncan, but for completely different reasons.

**Confessional (Jo): **"That weakling Dunce-can has really gone soft." She started flexing. "The only way to be an absolute machine is to expose your body to the most intense conditions." She stopped flexing and put her hands to her hips, grinning. "Any attempt to make things easier is just a sign of weakness."

Static.

Even though she would never admit it, Jo was building up a lot of sweat and looking very uncomfortable in her black sweatpants and sweatshirt.

Chris walked out. Or rather, he was lying on a long beach chair being carried by two tired interns. Chef followed closely behind. The host was wearing a white tank top and an umbrella hat.

"Salutations, competitors. And welcome to…the Mojave Desert!" The competitors were either too hot, or just really didn't care enough, to act like they were mesmerized, but Chris went on. "Welcome to Arizona. Known for its massive canyons, one might even say 'grand' and one of the hottest, biggest and driest, desert's in North America."

"And this is where today's challenge is gonna happen?" Gwen asked, unimpressed.

Chris shot a finger her way. "Correctomundo, Gwen." The competitors groaned, much to the delight of the host. "Today's challenge is very simple." He raised his hand and pointed in the direction opposite of where he was facing. "Trek across the desert and be the first to cross the waiting finish line."

The competitors were annoyed, but were glad the challenge was simple enough. But one was not so happy.

"Chris, I must interject." Courtney, who was carrying her star case, spoke up. "This challenge is far too dangerous, not without the proper equipment. Not to mention the lack of safety precautions. This desert is one of the largest…" As the CIT went on, Chris couldn't help but groan. He looked at Chef and the two shared a similar look of annoyance. "...and you seriously want us to trek all the way across the entire desert? This is in no way on my contract. Furthermore-"

"Courtney! Shut it! GAH! You are so annoying!" Chris shouted.

Courtney was taken aback. Gwen stepped forward, looking angry. "You don't get to talk to her like that." She declared, pointing at the host.

Chris didn't care and pinched his nose. "Fine, whatever." Gwen looked back at Courtney and the two shared a smile. Duncan watched this. "Anyways," Chris went on, clapping his hand together. "I did not skimp out this time because you guys are soooo boring. Honestly after so many seasons, I'd think you guys could handle a little more than-" He stopped, taking a deep breath. "We placed markers across the pathway. It's just a straight shot across and as long as you guys keep going north, you'll have little, to no, issues. And you won't be going across the entire desert. You'll only need to travel a few miles." Chef walked up, carrying a small cooler. "And I'm about to give each of you the necessary equipment to make this journey a little easier. He opened the container and picked something out. He turned and tossed what he was carrying towards Amy.

The cheerleader flinched and covered her face. Jo reached out her hand and caught it before it hit the Twin's face . She opened her hand to find...a fist sized bottle of water.

Jo scoffed. "This is it? This is puny."

"Relax. We had a few interns test the challenge and they all made it across, with little damage." The competitors seemed content with this, but Chris wasn't finished. "Unless you count massive amounts of sunburn and severe exhaustion as little damage. But I think I know you guys can handle that." He laughed to himself, while the competitors looked at each other, unsure.

Jasmine, on the other hand, was thinking of something else. "Wait a minute. Chris?" The host looked at her. "You said that the first _one _to cross the finish line would be the winner. Does that mean that…"

Chris smirked. "Good ears, Jazz." He turned to face the others. "Competitors, as of today, the teams will be disbanded, dismembered and dis...whatever. Point is, the _merge _has officially begun."

The competitors gasped. Some were happy about this, while others were a little nervous.

**Confessional (Noah): **He couldn't help but smile. "Wow. I can't believe I finally made the merge. Maybe being a big jerk did help." He immediately regretted his choice of words. "P-please don't tell Jasmine I said that."

**Confessional (Amy): **She looked like a bomb was about to explode in her head. "Now what? Nothing's gonna stop Samey from ganging up to eliminate me." Her eyes went wide. "And I forgot about that freak Australian." She groaned and grabbed her hair in frustration, ripping a few strands out in the process. "I don't want to use the statue this early."

Static

Speaking of, Jasmine was still processing what was going on. Suddenly, she felt something hit her on the side and latch onto her. Jasmine was surprised and looked down. But her expression quickly changed to smile. Samey had her locked in a tight waist hug. She looked very happy over this. _Finally_, she got to be with her friend after all this time. Both had faced close calls when it came to being eliminated, but both had gotten through them and could now enjoy each other's company. Jasmine happily returned the hug with one of her arms. Amy cringed at the sight.

But Chris was not done with explaining the challenge. "Alright you two, back away. I think you're gonna want to hear this." Jasmine and Samey separated and everyone looked at the host. "Since we've now entered the merge, I've decided to make the challenge...a little interesting." He paused, allowing the competitors curiosity to build. "Today's challenge will not involve an elimination ceremony…"

The competitors raised their eyebrows. "So you're doing two non-elimination episodes in a row?" Noah asked.

Chris shook his head. "Not exactly. For today's desert trek challenge, the competitor that comes in last...will be eliminated." The competitors gasped, but Chris silenced them. "And to make things perfectly clear, this is not going to be another Lindsay situation. There are eleven of you, and once ten competitors have crossed the finish line, we'll determine who's going home, got it?" The competitors nodded, though a tad worried. Chris smirked again. "Alright, now I have one more announcement to make." He pointed at the CIT. "Courtney, I believe you have something."

Courtney was confused at first, but quickly realized what the Host meant. She looked down at her case and held it up. Chris gave a thumbs up. The CIT smiled and walked up to him.

"You made the right call in keeping the case." Chris said, as he took the briefcase out of her hands. "Now because of it, you'll be given a major advantage in this challenge."

Courtney smirked and looked back at her opponents. She noticed Jo, looking very bitter. She also saw Gwen who was smiling. She turned back at Chris.

"So while everyone else will start the challenge at the same time, you, Courtney, will be given a 15 minute head start." The CIT was very happy about this.

* * *

Soon after, Courtney got in place to begin. Chris started a countdown. As he did, Courtney cast a look of uncertainty. She turned back around, and looked at Gwen, who gave her a reassuring smile. She followed with a nod. Courtney's mood immediately changed for the better and she looked confidently back across the desert, as Chris was nearly finished with his countdown.

"...3...2...1...Courtney, your head start has officially begun."

Courtney sprinted forward, picking up dust as she ran. Within seconds, she was several feet away from the competitors. She jumped down a small cliff, and disappeared out of sight. Gwen watched her leave her sight, and sighed, frowning in the process. Duncan walked next to her.

"So…" He said, innocently. Gwen looked up at him. "...can we...have that talk now?"

Gwen grunted and pushed him away. "Duncan, I will tell you when I'm ready. And right now, I'm not." She started to walk away. "So just...leave me alone."

The Ex-Con was disappointed, but didn't think it was a good idea to keep pushing her. He decided to pass the time some other way. He looked at the other competitors. Since there was still time, most of the competitors had dispersed and were either mingling with each other or getting ready for the next challenge. Samey and Dawn were talking with Jasmine, Jo was stretching and Sanders was...just standing by himself. Still feeling like talking to someone, Duncan walked up to her.

"Hey."

Sanders turned, caught off guard by the Ex-Con's sudden appearance. She still had the two keychains in her hands, so she hid them behind her back. "Hey." She said, somewhat defensively.

Duncan raised an eyebrow. "You alright?" Sanders nodded her head, aggressively, with a nervous smile. Duncan was curious, but didn't want to keep asking. "So...how are ya holding on…" Sanders forgot to be nervous for a second. "...ya know? Without your partner?"

Now the Cadet was completely caught off guard. She hadn't expected that blunt of a response from Duncan. She had already been surprised by some of the things Duncan had said to her, but this one took the case. But once the shock wore off, she actually thought about the question. She would've answered the question, except…

Duncan felt an arm wrap around his shoulders. "Talkin' to your new girlfriend, eh Cop Lover?" Jo laughed.

Duncan was startled by Jo's sudden appearance, but his mood quickly changed to pissed off. He pushed her hand off and grabbed Jo's by the collar of her sweatshirt. "You're just lucky there's witnesses here, otherwise, I would mess you up so badly." He said, through gritted teeth.

Jo just scoffed. "Maybe the old you would be more intimidating, but lately, I've seen how you've changed, Jail Breath." She pushed him away and walked towards the starting line. "So I expect this to be a really easy challenge for me." She returned to her stretching.

Duncan glared at her, but then remembered his talk with Sanders. He turned to her. He couldn't read her expression, and Duncan assumed she didn't want to talk anymore. He sighed and walked away, next to Jo. The two shared a glare as they readied themselves for the race.

Sanders watched him. She wanted to say something to him, but wasn't sure what. She moved her arms out from her back and opened her palms. She looked at her two keychains, still unsure what to do with them.

* * *

Amy watched as Jo prepared for the challenge, and frowned.

**Confessional (Amy): **She sighed, annoyed. "Maybe I should be glad that today's challenge won't have any voting in it. I could try and make Samey lose, but…" Her eyes narrowed and she crossed her arms "...like I'm gonna do that myself."

Static.

Samey was also watching Jo and Duncan. She was still talking with Jasmine and Dawn. The two had gotten along well enough. Jasmine knew a little about Dawn since she watched her season. Samey was relieved about this, but was distracted by the two rivals.

Jasmine noticed this. "Ya good, Sam?"

She looked up at Jasmine, and gave an unsure look. She wanted to spend as much time as she could with her two friends, but now that the merge was here, she knew she had to step up her game. She also didn't want to risk her friends getting eliminated by holding them back. Making her decision, she sighed.

"I'm fine, Jasmine. But…" She took a deep breath. "I want to try and win this challenge. On my own. I really _really_ want to spend as much time as possible with you guys, but…"

Jasmine smirked and gave a playful punch to Samey's shoulder. "What makes you think you're gonna win this challenge that easily? Just because we're friends, doesn't mean I'm not gonna take it easy on you."

Samey rubbed her shoulder, but noticed Jasmine's expression. She returned it with a more determined nod.

Noah had been watching the two. Ever since they landed, he was thinking of ways to make it up for Jasmine. He was also dreading the challenge itself. Both the heat and the fact that he would be running for a great distance was really bothering him. But he also remembered how eating the disgusting food back on the island had created a small sense of improvement between the two. He noticed the hot sun, blaring down on all of them. He knew that pretty much every competitor could outrun him and his best chance of winning (or at least not coming in last) meant he would actually have to try. He looked back at Jasmine and sighed, having an idea of what he was going to do.

* * *

Soon, the 15 minutes were about to be up. Chris stood to the side of the competitors.

"Alright, everyone, the challenge will start in the next ten seconds, so get ready!" he announced.

Immediately, the competitors did just that as Chris started.

"10...9...8…"

Jo and Duncan readied themselves. They glared at each other intensely. They were so focused on each other, that they didn't notice Samey positioned herself next to Duncan.

"...7...6...5…"

Noah looked nervously as he took his place, behind Jasmine. He hoped his plan would work.

"...4...3…"

Sanders just looked down at her keychains again, still unsure on what to do.

"...2...1...Go!"

Several of the competitors ran past the Host. Jo and Duncan took the lead quickly, with Samey trying to keep up with them. Jasmine followed, as did Gwen and Zoey. Noah had also started running, though he wasn't comfortable doing it. Everyone else had given chase too. Except for one. Chris watched the competitors move further and further away. He turned and was about to head back to the McPlane, when he stopped. He saw that one of the competitors hadn't bothered to move at all. Sanders just stood there, watching everyone take off into the distance. She looked down at her balled fists and wondered what her next decision should be. This was her chance to go home and see Macarthur again. She wanted to be with her partner again but...something didn't feel right.

Chris simply shrugged, and walked past her. Chef followed, leaving Sanders alone with her thoughts.

* * *

Jo and Duncan were in an intense fight to stay in first. Even though the race had just started, neither were giving anything less than their all. When it seemed like one had taken the lead, the other took it right back. Although she didn't have the same intensity as the two, Samey was still able to follow behind them.

* * *

Jasmine was keeping a steady pace. She knew that wasting her energy in the early part of the race wasn't a good idea. She watched Samey, Duncan and Jo move further away. She wanted to win, but also knew that the important thing was that she didn't come in last. She heard footsteps close behind her. She looked back, slightly confused. There was Noah, struggling to keep behind her. He had a pained expression and his breaths were already becoming heavy. Jasmine tried to ignore him and tried to pick up the pace. Much to her annoyance, Noah did the same and stayed right behind her. The Aussie groaned, realizing that he wasn't going to get away that easy.

* * *

Way up ahead, Courtney was still keeping a good pace. She figured the competitors had started, so knew she had to keep going. She was feeling a little tired, but wasn't about to let up. She looked ahead. She saw a small gap in the ground. It wasn't too deep, and it wasn't that large either. If she wanted to, she could jump over it and land on the other side. In fact, that's what she was going to do. Picking up speed, she sprinted towards the gap. Once she was in position, she jumped.

* * *

Jo and Duncan had not let up for a second. But they were feeling the effects of the heat. Jo was sweating in her black sweatshirt, while Duncan took a sip of his water bottle. The desert landscape had mostly been flat, with the exception of some small hills and gaps. They ran past an arrow that pointed towards a hill. It was small, but with all the running they were doing, Jo and Duncan found it slightly difficult. They struggled and faltered a little. Realizing it was going to be harder to get over, the two rivals slowed their pace down. They wouldn't admit it, but they were happy to catch their breath.

But it didn't last long. Both heard what sounded like feet running behind them. They were about to look around, when Samey appeared out of nowhere. She climbed the hill on her hands and feet and quickly passed the two. Jo and Duncan took a few moments to process what was happening. By the time they came to their senses, Samey was already at the top. More determined than ever, the Jockette and the Ex-Con climbed the hill. Once they got to the top, they could see that Samey wasn't too far and they sprinted after her.

**Confessional (Jo): **She slammed her fist down. "Who does that lame-brain cheerleader think she is? She is not better than me." She crossed her arms and darted her eyes back and forth, somewhat doubting what she was saying. "That was just...me...feeling sorry...for her...or whatever."

**Confessional (Duncan): **He also had his arms crossed, but wasn't mad. He was more annoyed than anything. "I know that no matter how hard I try to win this thing...somehow...Dawn is going to get there before anyone else does."

Static

* * *

Zoey had been running a steady pace. She wasn't in first, but she was more focused on not coming in last. As she continued, she noticed Jasmine up ahead. But she also noticed Noah, feebly running behind the Aussie. Zoey gave a confused look at this, and ran up next to the Brainiac. She could see the exhausted look on his face.

"Are you ok?" she asked, worriedly.

Noah looked at her and, still panting, nodded. "Oh...yeah. I'm...good."

Zoey wasn't buying it. "Are you sure?"

Noah laughed, through his painting. "No. Not...not in the slightest."

The Indie Chick gave a sympathetic look, but she was still confused. "Then...why don't you take a break? You're not in last, so you might still have a chance."

Noah didn't answer at first. Instead, he looked up at the Aussie, who was still running ahead of him. "I made a promise that I would...make amends...with Jasmine." He looked back at Zoey. "If...that means...torturing myself...then so be it." He pulled out his water bottle and took a sip of it. There was now very little left in it. Zoey felt a little bad for what Noah was putting himself through, but realized he wasn't going to be convinced. She decided not to bother anymore and ran ahead. Jasmine watched her pass by. She looked annoyed, but couldn't help but look back at Noah and just how hard he was struggling.

* * *

Back at the starting position, Sanders still hadn't moved. Chris and Chef were both gone, as was the McPlane. She kept looking at her two keychains. She wasn't personally attached to them or anything, but something bothered her about it. Macarthur would've loved one as a souvenir, but maybe not if Sanders got herself eliminated.

The Cadet sighed and looked again at the Bobcat one. She kept staring at it, holding up to her face. After a few more seconds, she put it in her pocket and gave a determined look. She put the other keychain in her pocket, as well. She then cracked her neck and readied herself.

She could hear Macarthur in her head. _Come on, Sanders. You're not about to go home this early. I will never let you live this down if you do. Now tighten your glutes, bend your knees and make this race your b-_

Sanders took off at an incredible pace. She was not going to go home that easily.

* * *

Later,

Amy hadn't seen many competitors on her run. Most of them had gone ahead, and the Twin hadn't seen anyone else in a while. She was slightly nervous because she knew she wasn't anywhere near first place. She also didn't know if the McLean invincibility statue would help her, since it was an automatic elimination challenge. Even if it did, she didn't want to use it when she had such a big target on her back. She was so deep in thought, she didn't hear someone running behind her. By the time she did, a flash of blue bolted past her. Amy barely had time to register what just happened. And by the time she did, the blue flash was gone. The Twin gulped.

* * *

Jasmine tried her best to concentrate on the challenge, but it was hard with all the heavy breathing going on behind her. She looked slightly back. The Brainiac was still running, but was absolutely drenched in sweat. He was slightly further behind than he was before, but didn't look like he was about to give in. Jasmine remembered what he said to Zoey. Though she was still mad at what the guy had done to her, she couldn't help but feel pity for what he was doing. She tried shaking it off, but to no avail.

She looked back at Noah and noticed something. "Hey, how is your bottle full again?"

Noah looked at his water bottle. Jasmine was right. The bottle was now filled to brim, despite it being almost empty a little while ago. He couldn't help but give a cheeky grin. "If I had to guess…" he panted. "...it's all the sweat coming off my body."

Jasmine cringed at the mention and looked away. "That is disgusting." She thought about saying more, but couldn't. She was still mad, but she felt conflicted. She knew that putting him through this pain wasn't the right thing to do, even if she wasn't responsible for it. She gave a heavy sigh. She stopped and turned around.

But when she turned around, she was surprised. Noah was no longer running. Instead, he was facedown in the sand, having dropped his sweat filled bottle. He was still breathing, but was far too exhausted to do anything else. Jasmine watched him, not sure what to do. She started to turn around, but stopped, then looked back at the passed out Brainiac.

* * *

Samey was holding her lead against Jo and Duncan. Despite their effort, the two rivals couldn't outrun the cheerleader. They were coming across two large rocks, with a small gap in between. There were two signs with arrows on them, pointing towards the gap. Samey slowed herself down once she got to the gap. It was a tight fit, but she was able to start maneuvering through. Duncan and Jo noticed the gap, as well and realized that only one of them could get into it. Reluctantly, Duncan eased back. Jo wasted no time and got to the gap before him. She turned to her side, and started shimmying through. Duncan followed close behind. They struggled at points, but were quickly able to get through. But when they reached the end, they stopped and gasped, as had Samey.

In front of them was a large field of cacti. The three competitors could not see past them. They looked to the side and noticed an arrow, pointing forwards. They realized the only way to get past this challenge was to keep moving forward, through the cacti.

Wanting to keep her lead, Samey got on her hands and knees and started crawling under the prickly plants. Jo and Duncan jumped at this, and did the same. For a bit, all three were able to avoid the pointy pins. But it wasn't to last. Jo ended up running up against some and causing her sweatshirt to tear slightly. She groaned, but kept moving. The same thing happened to Samey with her cheerleading outfit. She was annoyed, but kept moving on. Duncan wasn't as bothered by the needles, cutting into his tank top, so was able to move ahead. Soon, he took the lead and reached the end. He got up, dusted himself off and looked back. Jo and Samey were close, but not out of the cactus field yet. The Ex-Con smirked and started running again. Soon, the other two got out of the field and stood up. They saw Duncan gaining distance between them and gave chase. They had no way of knowing that another competitor had just arrived at the entrance to the challenge, and was already making their way through the cacti.

* * *

Gwen could see the two big rocks with the arrows on them. But her mind wasn't on the challenge. She was still thinking about Courtney and how the two were forced to separate. She figured she had already finished the challenge, or was at least, close to.

"Hey, Gwen."

The Goth broke out of her trance and turned. Zoey ran up next to her, keeping a pace. Gwen couldn't help but smile. "Hey, Zoey."

The Indie Chick returned the smile. "You ready to get this challenge over with?"

Gwen laughed. "Absolutely. Honestly, Loser Class is far better than running in the sun, like this." The two chuckled. But Zoey's faded and she looked unsure. Gwen noticed this. "What's up? Everything alright?"

Zoey wasn't sure how to respond, but she wasn't sure what else to say. Reluctantly, she looked at her friend. "Gwen...ummmm...I wanted to ask something…"

The two slowed their pace. "Ok...what's up?" Gwen asked curiously.

Again, Zoey took a few moments to think of what to say. "What...What do you think about...Duncan?"

Gwen went wide eyed. She wasn't expecting that kind of response. But her face changed to annoyance. That worried Zoey. Finally, Gwen sighed. "Look...Zoey. I have no idea why you want to know about me and Duncan and I don't really want to talk about him." She paused, looking the other way. "...and I don't really wanna talk _to _him either." She mumbled this, but Zoey still heard what she said. She gulped.

**Confessional (Zoey): **"That is not a good sign..." She said, worried.

Static

* * *

Jo and Samey were still trailing behind Duncan. They were able to catch up to him, but it wasn't enough. Duncan looked back at the two and grinned. But when he looked back forward, he thought he saw something. He squinted his eyes, but when he realized what it was, he went wide eyed. Like a car screeching his brakes, he desperately tried to stop himself. Jo and Samey noticed the same thing and slowed down. Duncan was getting closer and closer. But finally, he ended up falling onto his back, inches away from what he was trying to stop himself from.

A long, sandy, downward incline. Had Duncan not stopped himself in time, he would've fallen and rolled all the way down, crashing into the hard rocks at the bottom.

Jo and Samey didn't have as much of an issue stopping, but weren't sure what to do next. Duncan stood up and dusted himself off again. "Now what?"

Jo and Samey were catching their breath again. The Jockette was too tired to say anything and took a sip of her water bottle. Samey did the same. Although she wouldn't admit it, she was happy for the rest.

**Confessional (Samey): **She had a proud smile on her face. "I honestly can't believe how well I've done in this challenge so far. Especially going against Jo _and _Duncan." She thought to herself. "Maybe I _am _pretty good at this game."

Static.

Anyone of them might've thought of a way to get down the incline, when they heard something. It sounded like someone was panting, and running towards them. It got closer and closer. The three looked behind them and almost missed the flash of blue race past them. They looked forward, just in time, to see Sanders jump, high in the air. The other race watched in amazement, as she looked like she was about to take off, flying. But Sanders, of course, didn't and came back down, landing on the top part of the incline. She rolled forward when she hit the ground, and used her feet to slide down. Jo, Samey and Duncan were shocked, but the Ex-Con couldn't help but grin. Once Sanders reached the bottom, she jumped over the rocks and stopped. She caught her breath, almost surprised by what she just did. Smirking, she looked up at three she just passed, who were all still flabbergasted. She gave a playful salute and took off running.

Jo, Duncan and Samey were still frozen in surprise. Eventually though, Jo broke out of it and walked back.

"Well, if she can do it, so can I." she said, confidently. Duncan and Samey turned and watched Jo run towards the incline. She took a jump, just at the edge. Problem was, she jumped at a bad angle, and, despite her efforts, wasn't able to land at a good angle. Her feet weren't in a good landing position and she ended up, falling forward. This was followed by the Jockette rolling down. Duncan and Samey cringed, as Jo went all the way down, tossing sand everywhere. Luckily, when she reached the bottom, she had just missed the rocks and came to a complete stop, battered and groaning in pain.

Duncan and Samey looked at Jo, then at each other. After seeing what just happened, they figured it was a better idea to scale down the mountain, slowly and carefully. So they did just that.

* * *

Jasmine had just gotten back to moving, but she didn't look happy. It wasn't because of the heat and it wasn't because she was tired from running. She could still do the trek, but now had a...addition. She was carrying an exhausted Noah on her shoulders, in a fireman's carry.

**Confessional (Jasmine): **She crossed her arms, looking annoyed. "Well...I wasn't about to leave the guy in the middle of the desert. I'm not a monster." She didn't say anything and just sat in awkward silence, trying not to look at the camera.

Static.

She was able to get through the rock wall gap, but came across the next obstacle: The Cactus Field. She tried to look over it and could make out something moving on the other side. It was Gwen and Zoey, both of whom had just finished making it through. Jasmine sighed in annoyance and tried to think of a way to get through the cacti. With her carrying Noah, it was going to be a lot harder to get through. She thought about using the Brainiac as a shield to protect her from the needles, but quickly put the thought away. Then she got an idea and gently put Noah down to the ground, on his back. She reached into her pocket and pulled out a small rope. She took a knee and tied her left ankle with Noah's left ankle. Now she could crawl under the pointy plants, while carrying Noah with her. She got onto her stomach and inched her way through, dragging the unconscious Brainiac behind her.

* * *

Chris and Chef were getting their tan on at the finish line. Two, very hot and very exhausted, interns were fanning the host. Chef was reading a magazine, when a black haired intern came up to him, with a glass of lemonade. Without breaking contact from his page, Chef grabbed the drink and took a sip.

Chris was feeling very relaxed in his setting, when he felt a hand poke him on the shoulder. Annoyed, he sat up and looked at the interrupting intern. The blonde haired boy pointed in another direction, and Chris looked. He was surprised by what he saw.

There was Sanders running at an incredible pace towards the finish line. Chris immediately realized what that meant and shoved the intern to the ground and ran towards the line.

"And the winner is…" He announced. Sanders pushed herself even harder. Even though no one was even close to her, she didn't slow down. "...Sanders!"

The Cadet slowed down once she crossed the finish line. She finally stopped, catching her breath. Chris walked up to her.

"I honestly didn't think you would finish this. Much less, come in first." He started, but then shrugged. "But, it doesn't really matter. Congrats, Sanders, you win the first merge challenge." The Cadet smiled, still breathing heavily. "That means you're traveling first class to our next destination..._and _you'll be allowed one guest to join you." Sanders thought about this, as Chris turned. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have so much needed tanning to get back to."

Sanders just stood, by herself, celebrating her big win. But then she remembered something. She reached into her pocket and pulled out something. She opened her palm and revealed it to be one of her keychains. More specifically, it was her Bobcat keychain.

* * *

Zoey and Gwen were now picking up the pace. Neither had said a word since Zoey mentioned the Goth's ex-boyfriend. The Indie Chick couldn't help but feel a little awkward because of it. Realizing that she made the mistake, she thought it was best to say something.

"Hey, Gwen?" She said awkwardly. Her Goth friend turned her head. To Zoey, she didn't look annoyed, so maybe it was a good sign. "I just wanted to ask, since I never got the chance,...how did you and Courtney… , y'know, become friends after the whole...list thing, back in All-Stars?"

Gwen raised an eyebrow. "Friends?" Then her eyes shot open. "Oh, yeah. Friends. We are friends." She chuckled nervously, much to Zoey's confusion. She might've asked about, but Gwen sighed. "She...She actually came to me about that. She apologized and we became...friends, again." She almost doubted what she was saying.

Zoey wanted to ask about it, but felt like that would be too much. They continued their running, without another word.

**Confessional (Gwen): **She sighed sadly. "I feel bad for leaving Zoey out of the loop like this, but...I'm not ready to tell anyone about..._that _yet."

Static

* * *

Back at the finish line, Sanders was still basking in her win. But, in the distance, she could see a cloud of dust coming towards her. She put her hand above her eyes and looked out. She almost thought it was a dust storm, but quickly realized it wasn't.

Duncan, Samey and, the recently recovered, Jo were all sprinting towards the finish line. No one wanted to let up. When it seemed like one was about to pass, the other two quickly caught up. Jo tried pushing Samey down, while Duncan tried ramming into the Jockette. When all three saw the finish line, they picked up the pace even more. Sanders moved out of the way to avoid getting trampled. As the three racers came nearer and nearer, the shoving and pushing increased, but no one was backing down. Once they were a foot away from the finish, they reached out to it. Samey was pushed down, with her hand crossing the line. At the same time, Duncan and Jo crossed. The Jockette immediately started jumping up and down, with her arms raised.

"First place, baby!" She cheered.

Duncan, out of breath, grabbed her shoulder and pulled her to face him. "What...are you...talking about?"

Jo smirked. "I totally crossed the finish line before either of you." She poked the Ex-Con's chest. "I'm the winner, which means you came in second. Or, in other words, the first loser."

The two were about to break out into an angry argument, but Chris spoke up. "Would you guys shut up?! I'm trying to get my tan going on here."

Duncan shoved Jo aside and walked up to Chris. "Who came in first?"

"Obviously, it was me." Jo bragged, following him.

"Actually it was neither of you."

The Jockette and the Ex-Con went wide eyed. "WHAT?!" They said at the same time.

Chris pointed at the winner, and the two turned. There was Sanders, with a wide grin on her face. She waved at the two. Jo looked gobsmacked, but Duncan was in shock. A small smile formed over his face. Jo looked back at the host. "Then, who came in second?"

Chris just shrugged. "I don't know. Wasn't really paying attention. Doesn't matter either way because all three of you are safe from elimination." He went back to tanning.

Jo was just left to wallow in her anger. Samey watched the whole thing, having picked herself up. While she was a little disappointed she didn't know the result, she was proud of herself for going head to head with both Jo and Duncan and almost beating them. She smiled to herself, but then realized something. She looked at Sanders, then to the rest of competitors.

"Where's Courtney?" She asked. Duncan, Jo and Sanders heard this, and looked around. None of them had seen Courtney the entire race. But if she wasn't at the finish...where was she?

* * *

Jasmine was able to get through the cactus field with little issues. She was back to carrying Noah over her shoulders. The Brainiac had been slowly regaining consciousness, but could do nothing but mumble, much to the Aussie's annoyance.

She arrived at the downward incline, and stopped at the edge. She sighed, not sure what she should do next.

"I...got this."

Suddenly, Jasmine felt Noah squirming off her shoulders. He got down and stood up, still dazed from the heat.

"What?" She asked him. "What are you talking about?"

Noah smirked at her, though he did not look like he was fully...there. "You've been helping me through this whole thing...and I…" He took a moment to gather his thoughts. "That's not how it's supposed to work. _I_...am the one who's trying to fix things between us. So I will do this next part...by myself." He started walking forward.

Jasmine looked at him, dumbfounded. "I don't think that's a good idea."

Like a drunk idiot, Noah scoffed. "I already made a promise, and I said that I would keep it. No matter whaaaaaa-" Had Noah been paying attention, or just not have absorbed so much sun rays, he would've noticed that he was walking right towards the hill. He had stepped right over the edge and started tumbling down it. Jasmine winced as the Braiciac, similar to Jo, started tossing up dust with each roll. He slammed his face against the sand several times. Miraculously, he found the gap between the rocks and came to a stop. He lay flat on his back, groaning in pain. Jasmine couldn't believe what she just saw and sighed. Carefully, she made her way down.

* * *

At the finish line, Zoey and Gwen had just made it. Both were happy enough, seeing they weren't the last people to show up. But Gwen noticed something. She looked around the other competitors, with a worried expression.

"Hey...Gwen?"

The Goth turned and came face to face with the last person she wanted to see. "What do you want, Duncan?" As soon as she made eye contact, she went back to looking around.

"I wanted...to see...if we could talk now?" The Ex-Con asked, nervously.

Gwen walked right past him. "I already said, I would tell you when I'm ready."

Duncan rubbed the back of his head. "Yeah...I know. Just...I want to know _when_ you'll be ready."

Gwen grimaced and finally looked at her Ex. "Where's Courtney?"

Duncan was caught off guard by this. He struggled to find his voice. "I-I don't know. She wasn't here when I got here."

Gwen sighed in annoyance and walked away. Duncan was about to follow her, but Zoey put a hand on his shoulder and shook her head.

"I don't think now's a good time." She said, solemnly.

The Ex-Con wanted to protest, but realized it wouldn't do anything. He sighed, accepting it.

* * *

Noah was unceremoniously dropped onto the ground. A stream of water was poured over his face. He sputtered as he felt it. He opened his eyes and sat up. He looked up and saw Jasmine, with a now empty bottle of water in her hand. Then the Brainiac looked around, realizing he was at the finish area. He turned back and looked up at Jasmine. His memory was a little hazy, but he didn't think he had made it to the finish under his own power. When the Aussie started walking away, he got up and went to her.

"Hey, wait." He called.

Jasmine sighed and turned around. She looked annoyed.

"Why did you do that?" Noah asked, once he had reached her. "I thought you still hated me."

Jasmine crossed her arms and rolled her eyes. "I _do _still hate you. But I wasn't about to stoop to your level and leave you behind. Don't think for a moment that this means anything." And she walked away.

Noah turned and watched her. He didn't think he was still done with Jasmine, but didn't entirely believe her.

**Confessional (Noah): **"She saved me…" He said as if he couldn't believe what he was saying. "She saved..._me_. That's gotta mean..._something_, right?"

Static.

As Noah thought to himself, Amy came sprinting across the finish line. She was exhausted. She had cactus pins in her hair, and rips in her cheerleading outfit. When Samey saw her, she couldn't help but laugh. Amy glared, but looked at the rest of the competitors.

"Wait...did I come in last?" She eyed everyone, who were also noticing how many people had finished. But the Twin noticed something else. "Wait...that weird girl isn't here." She grinned. "Ha, I'm not last."

"Actually" Chris spoke up and pointed. Some of the competitors dispersed, revealing Dawn to be sitting, in lotus position, on a rock.

**Confessional (Duncan): **He sat back, smirking. "Called it."

Static

Amy's face fell. "But…" Chris interjected again. "You are not last, and therefore not going home."

Amy blinked, almost not believing it. "I'm not?"

Chris smirked. "You are not." He turned to the rest of the competitors. "The winner of the first merge challenge is...Sanders." The Cadet was met with a few surprised looks and some smiles. Chris continued. "And unfortunately...the unlucky loser is...Courtney, for not showing up before everyone else. Or at all, for that matter."

The competitors looked around and realized that Chris was right. The CIT, despite having an advantage, was not there. Gwen looked around, more worried than she was before. "Where is she?" She panicked.

Chris just shrugged. "Don't know." He paused for a few seconds, then clapped his hands together. "Well everyone, time to get on the plane."

"What?!" Gwen walked up to the host, with a look of absolute shock and anger. "What are you talking about?" She pointed out into the desert. "Courtney's still out there. We need to go find her." She pointed at the host. "You're responsible for whatever happens to her."

Chris pushed her hand down. "Actually, I'm not." He snapped his fingers and a nearby intern handed him a stack of papers. Chris picked them up and started reading them. "The contract that _you all agreed to _states that I am not responsible for any competitors once they are eliminated." He handed the contract back to the intern and grinned at the Goth, then turned and walked away.

Gwen was seeing red. "No. This isn't right."

Duncan walked up behind her. "Gwen I-"

"I'm going after her." She shouted at Chris.

"Do that, and you'll be in violation of your contract." The Host shouted back. "But if it makes you feel any better, I'll call a rescue team to look for her once we're in the air."

Duncan took a step closer. "Gwen, I really want to-"

"Not now." Gwen waved him off. She was very upset. "They might not find her. We need to look for her now." She shouted, but Chris was out of earshot.

"Gwen, this isn't-"

The Goth turned around, eyes red and holding back tears. "Duncan! Shut it! This isn't about you. It's about Courtney. I said I would talk to you, _when I'm ready_." She wiped her eyes. "But you know what? I've made up my mind. There will never be an 'us' ever again, for as long as you and I live. So stop thinking about yourself for one GODDAMN second, and get the hell away from me." She angrily turned away, and, reluctantly, headed towards the plane. Duncan was left alone with his thoughts. Soon, he walked towards the plane as well.

* * *

Jasmine had just gotten back onto the plane, and took her seat on the loser class bench. She looked up to see Noah, who had taken the seat across from her. He had a bigger bottle of water in his hands, from having to deal with the heat. They shared a long awkward silence.

"I just wanted to say...thanks…" Noah finally broke the silence. "...Y'know...for saving me. I...I probably didn't deserve it, so...thanks, again." He gave a small smile.

Jasmine just scoffed and turned her head. Noah sighed, and took a seat. He noticed Jasmine was trying hard not to look at him, which made him think that she might not be as mad as she was before, but was too stubborn to admit it. This made him feel a little better.

* * *

Once Chris was certain all of the competitors were on the plane. He walked into the McPlane's cockpit. "Alright Chef." He said as he entered. "Let's get going. I got a call I need to make."

Chef gave a thumbs up and hit a few switches. The plane started making noises, and the engines started going. Suddenly, Chef noticed a red light going off, on one of the screens. This was followed by a loud sputtering sound. Chef opened the window and looked at the engine. One of them had jammed and was smoking. Chef was confused and sighed.

"What's going on? Why haven't we gone yet?" Chris reentered the cockpit.

Chef reached under, and pulled out a toolbox. "Something's wrong with one of the engines. I'll go take a look."

"Well make it quick." Chris ordered.

Chef scowled. "Don't tell me what to do."

The host glared at his co-host as left, then sighed and pressed a button to the intercom. "Alright, competitors." Said into it. "I need everyone to exit the plane. We've come across some...technical difficulties and won't be able to start."

* * *

The competitors were all sitting outside the plane, on some rocks. Zoey had been trying to comfort Gwen, who was still miserable. It was going to get dark soon, and everyone was hoping they could get back on the plane shortly. Chef had a ladder and his toolbox and was inspecting the busted engine.

But Sanders was the first to notice something. "Hey," she called to the rest of the competitors, who all turned to her, except Gwen. "Where's Duncan?"

The competitors looked around. Sanders was right. Duncan was nowhere to be seen.

"Maybe he's still on the plane." Samey pointed.

"I'm not sure," Zoey said. "I never saw him get back on." Then she thought of something. "Or off...for that matter."

Sanders thought about this, and looked out into the desert.

* * *

Courtney was miserable. It was finally revealed that she was in the same gap she tried to jump over. It wasn't very deep, but when the CIT tried to pull herself off, she winced in pain. She had successfully made the jump, but when she had landed, her ankle twisted and she fell back into the pit, hitting the back of her head, and knocking herself unconscious. Her ankle hurt a lot and she couldn't put pressure on it, without it hurting severely.

But her misery wasn't just from the pain. It was also from knowing she had lost the challenge, and she would probably be eliminated. Even if that wasn't the case, she probably wouldn't be able to compete in any other challenges.

_They have to come back for me._ She had said to herself, hours ago. She was now starting to doubt it.

She started to cry, realizing the fate she was left to. But her sniffling subsided once she heard footsteps. She wiped away her tears and sat up a little. "Hello?! I'm down here! I can't move my leg. I need medical attention!" The footsteps stopped for a second, before moving again. They sounded like they were getting closer. Courtney reverted back to her old self. "Well, it's about time. I have been waiting for hours. You really need to learn how to take care of your stars Chriiii…" She trailed off once she realized who had shown up. "Oh." she sounded disappointed.

"Happy to see you too, Princess." Duncan quipped, but he didn't laugh.

Courtney pouted and looked away. "What are you doing here? Come to rub it in?"

The Ex-Con jumped down into the gap, next to the injured Courtney. "Not today, Court." He bent over and reached his hands underneath her legs and back.

"What are you doing?" She shrieked. "Is this some sort of sick joke?"

Duncan groaned. "I have to get you out one way or another." He looked her dead in eye (which wasn't hard because they were face-to-face. "So do you want my help or not?"

Courtney looked surprised, but didn't say anything.

Duncan couldn't help but smirk. "Good." He started to pick her up and out of the gap. "I brought you something to read, to keep you entertained."

Courtney raised an eyebrow.

* * *

"That...Jerk Wad!"

"It's Chris, what did you expect?"

It was later, and Duncan and Courtney were heading back to the McPlane. To make things easier, Duncan carried her piggyback style. The Ex-Con had given her a copy of the contract that he had stolen before setting out.

"He said, in the contract, that he wasn't responsible for any eliminated competitors. I figured you could find a loophole, since you're so good at that."

Courtney looked excited. "Oh, you bet I am…" But then she paused and realized what she was doing. She was talking to Duncan. Not arguing. Not yelling. But, actually talking to him. She pouted again and mumbled. "Don't think this means anything."

Duncan sighed. "I thought you'd say that."

Courtney continued. "I still don't feel anything for you, so please don't bother trying."

"Gotcha." Came the quick response.

"Good." Courtney declared.

There was another long silence between the two. But, after a while, Duncan heard a sniff. He tried to look back, but knew what it was from. "I-I just never understood why you didn't even talk to me about breaking up…" Courtney choked. She sounded like she was about to cry.

Duncan gave a guilty look. "Yeah...that was kind of a jerk move." He took a deep breath and began. "I...just...after Action, I really started to think about the two of us. And I thought...Did I really want to spend most of my life with someone who wanted to change who I was. The clothes I wore, the way I talked...I just...I didn't want a contract to control our relationship." He paused. "But I guess I should've said something about it, instead of cheating on you."

Courtney didn't say anything. She actually thought about what Duncan had said. The more she thought about it, she realized that she was very controlling in the relationship. She was young and stubborn, and wanted things her way. But she now knew that it wasn't fair for others to just go with what she wanted.

She took a deep breath and sighed. "Duncan...I...I forgive you." The Ex-Con went wide eyed. He was not expecting this. He stopped in his tracks. Courtney went on. "I've been carrying this anger towards you for so long, and I'm sick of it. So...I'm no longer mad at you."

Duncan didn't move, and didn't say anything for a while. "How do you feel now?" He finally asked.

Courtney thought about it. "I guess...like a huge weight was lifted from my shoulders." She smiled, satisfied.

Duncan didn't say anything again, but started walking again. Finally, he gave a cheeky grin. "Really? Cause it feels like a huge is on me. More specifically, my back." He cackled.

Courtney went wide eyed, and frowned, slapping him the back of the head. "That isn't funny, Duncan." But the Ex-Con kept laughing. But Courtney couldn't be mad for long. She eventually smiled and joined in the laughter.

* * *

Back at the McPlane, Chef had just found out the problem with the engine.

"What do you mean you found a rock in it? How does a rock get in the engine and mess everything up?" Chris complained. Chef just shrugged and tossed the rock to the side. Chris walked to the competitors. "Alright everyone, let's get this show back on the road...or the sky, rather."

The competitors started heading towards the plane, except Sanders.

"Wait a minute. You can't leave yet, Duncan's not back." She said.

Chris groaned. "Really? Fine. I'll give him five minutes. Then we're leaving."

Sanders looked worried, but Jasmine tapped her on the arm. "I don't think he'll need that much time." She said, pointing.

Sanders and Chris looked to where the Aussie was signaling, and their jaws dropped.

There was Duncan...carrying Courtney on his back. The rest of the competitors looked at it, and were equally shocked. But none were more shocked, and happy, than Gwen.

Duncan crossed the finish line, and looked at Chris.

"Found her," he said, bluntly.

Chris crossed his arms and shrugged. "Ok. Good for you. She's still eliminated. She can't get back on the plane."

Duncan grinned, and let Courtney take over. The CIT cleared her throat and began. "Chris. You are correct. The contract does state that, since I am eliminated, you are no longer responsible for my well-being." Chris stared smugly at her, but Courtney wasn't phased. "However, there is something on page 39, subsection D, that states, and I quote, 'If any competitor is injured physically, during the challenge, that competitor is automatically owed a trip to the nearest medical facility. Even if the competitor has been eliminated, as long as the injury happened before the elimination took place, the rule still applies." She turned the contract around, so Chris could read it.

The Host now looked worried and realized that Courtney was right. He looked back up at the two smug competitors, staring back at him.

Quickly, Chris dropped the contract and ran to Chef. "Chef, what are you waiting for? Call a hospital. Call an ambulance. Call something." The two ran off into the plane to do just that.

Courtney and Duncan laughed. The Ex-Con walked her to a nearby rock, so she could sit down. Jasmine and Sanders helped her off his back.

Once she was off, Duncan turned around and smiled at Courtney. She returned it, and gave him a 'thank you' hug. Once they released, Duncan stepped back. Gwen immediately pounced in, tears in her eyes, asking Courtney as many questions as she could. The Ex-Con watched from a distance. Though he would never say it out loud, he was happy with what he did. He suddenly felt something bump into him, from behind his back. He looked down and realized a pair of arms were hugging him. He instantly knew who it was.

"I am so proud of you." Zoey squealed. Duncan rolled his eyes, still with a smile. He then looked up and noticed Sanders looking at him. She was also smiling at him, and gave him a thumbs up. Duncan returned it with a nod. Zoey released and the two looked at each other.

"Yeah…" The Ex-Con rubbed the back of his head. "It felt nice…" He wasn't sure what else to say, but didn't have to. Duncan felt another pair of hands wrap around him in a hug.

This time...it was Gwen.

"Thank you...so much." She said, overwhelmed. Duncan was surprised, but quickly realized how great this felt. He looked over at Zoey, and silently, and excitedly, nodded for her to notice what was going on. The Indie Chick smirked. Gwen released him, wiped her eyes and looked at him. "I'm...sorry for what I said earlier. We made a deal that I would talk to you...and I will. I promise you it will be soon." She smiled and walked away, leaving Duncan, absolutely shocked. But in a good way.

* * *

Later, an ambulance had arrived, waiting to take Courtney to a hospital. Chris looked very worried as she was being put on the gurney. The competitors lined up to say their goodbyes.

"We'll miss you, Courtney." Zoey said

"Now the rest of us will actually have a chance at winning," Jasmine joked, winking.

"I'm pretty sure Macarthur is screaming at the TV, right about now." Sanders chuckled. Courtney, and everyone else, did the same.

Duncan watched from a distance. He was really happy with what he did.

At that moment, doctors were about to load the CIT into the vehicle. The Ex-Con watched as everyone dispersed from her. Except Gwen. She had one final goodbye.

Duncan smirked. All the big mistakes he made with trying to talk with Gwen were practically gone. Now he was owed a talk, and he knew he was going to-

At that moment, all the joy and hope was wiped away from Duncan, replaced with absolute shock and surprise.

There was Gwen, saying her final goodbye. With a kiss...on the lips...of Courtney.

Duncan looked on, mouth agape, as the doctors took the gurney away. Gwen and Courtney were holding hands, slowly releasing them, as Courtney was put into the ambulance, and driven away. That could only mean one thing. Gwen was already in a relationship...and it was with Courtney.

The Ex-Con...couldn't believe it.

Chris looked at him, and laughed. "Well...talk about a shocking ending. Will Duncan ever get over the fact that his two exes are smooching buddies? Find out on the-" At that moment, his phone started ringing. The Host picked it up and answered. "Yeah?...I'm kind of in the middle of a show...Wait, slow down." He started to look worried. "What do you mean: her lawyers contacted the studio?" He grabbed his hair. "Well...what should we do about it?" As the voice on the other end spoke, Chris' expression changed to disbelief. "Leave of Absence?!...I don't care if it's temporary, you're not replacing me, I'm irreplaceable." The next words made Chris snap. "No. NO! Not him, anyone but him. You are not replacing me with anyone, especially that two-bit has-been...I don't care, this is not up for debate, no one wants to see him instead of me…"

Chris walked off camera, still ranting over the phone. The camera turned over to the worried looking Chef. It took him a few moments to realize he was on. He stammered a response, and gave a nervous smile. "S-See you next time, on a brand new episode, which will definitely still feature Chris, of...Total...Drama...Legends!"

* * *

**Eh...I'm a little mixed with how this whole chapter turned out. The first half, with everything before the challenge was great, but the second half, I'm not sure about. The challenge itself was fun to write, but I'm not certain how people will feel about how I handled Duncan and Courtney burying the hatchet. Speaking of, what did everyone think of the reveal with Gwen and Courtney? I know at least one person was able to figure it out, but I don't know who else did. The next chapter should have few surprises in it, so watch out. Let me know what you thought and as always: Peace be with ya.**

* * *

Merge: Amy, Dawn, Duncan, Gwen, Jasmine, Jo, Noah, Samey, Sanders and Zoey

Placement:

22nd: Sierra

21st: Lightning

20th: Tyler

19th: Leshawna

18th: Mike

17th: Cody

16th: Heather

15th: Alejandro

14th: Owen

13th: Macarthur

12th: Scott

11th: Courtney

* * *

Placement:

1st: Sanders

Unofficially Tied for 2nd: Jo, Duncan and Samey

3rd: Gwen

4th: Zoey

5th: Jasmine

6th: Noah

7th: Amy

(?)th: Dawn

Last: Courtney


	15. Troy Toy

**Alright, before we begin, I owe an explanation to y'all. It's been over a month since my last chapter. I'll keep the explanation short, I had a lot of trouble writing this chapter and I don't know why. The challenge especially was hard to write. I kinda had to push myself a little to get this one done. This does not mean I plan on stopping the series though. I'm here now, so I hope everyone enjoys this chapter, and leaves a review. Those really help keep me going. **

* * *

**Gman: Thank you. Glad you liked the twist from last chapter **

**KirbyStar: Thanks for the praise. To anyone reading this, go check out KirbyStar's new series: Total Drama Voyage on this site. **

**DSX62415: Yes, let's find out. And thank you.**

**DramaBuddy: Great prediction. I'm glad you liked the last chapter **

**MatiasND aka 'a: Very interesting prediction. Also, since it was never known when Dawn finished, her placement is that she didn't come in last. **

**Big Bobby: Glad you like the cast. **

**Infinity Wizard: Yeah, I was a little worried that it would seem rushed. Glad you liked the other stuff though. **

**Knifez: *fanboy screaming* Thank you, that really means a lot. You're a huge inspiration for how I write this series**

**Sirstupidity: Great to hear from you again. **

* * *

A map, with a moving picture of a plane appeared on screen. This time, it was Chef who did the recap. "Uh...last time on Total Drama Legends. Boy, was it a scorcher. The competitors tested their strength in the unbearable heat. The Tall Girl had to do most of the challenge with the one guy she hated, on her back, while the two meatheads and the cheerleader chick raced each other to win. In the end, the Skinny Cop came from behind to win the challenge, while…" He coughed. "Courtney got sent home, due to...failing to complete the challenge before everyone else. And finally, the Troublemaking, Green-Haired, Ex-Convict had a front row ticket to see his two ex-girlfriends smooching. Talk about a slap in the face."

Chef was revealed to be piloting the plane, while holding a card in his other hand . His eyes kept darting from focusing on piloting, to reading off the card. "And...in case anyone's wondering...Chris has decided...to take a...extended vacation to...allow...someone else to take over his hosting duties." He put the card down, and looked at the camera. "And who will that be? It ain't me, so find out who, on today's episode of...Total...Drama...Legends!"

* * *

The plane was steadily flying through the clouds. The camera quickly cut to inside the First Class section, where the winner of the last challenge, Sanders, was talking with the person she had decided to take with her.

"So...that must have been tough for you." Sanders said, sympathetically.

Duncan rested his arms on his knees. He cast a very annoyed, but confused, expression. "The only reason I came back…"

"Aside from the stuff in your contract…" Sanders quickly added, which resulted in a scowl from the Ex-Con. "Sorry...go on."

"The plan was simple: come back, win Gwen back and...well, I guess I didn't think that far...but...it was supposed to be a happy ending."

Sanders cupped her chin, thinking. "Well, you still kinda got your happy ending. I mean, you eliminated the bad blood between you and Courtney, and got on Gwen's good side, that's gotta mean something."

Duncan rolled his eyes. "Whatever." Then a thought crossed his mind. "Maybe the kiss didn't mean anything." Sanders raised a confused eyebrow, but Duncan continued. "Maybe it was just like a...way of saying goodbye."

Sanders gave a pitiful look. "I...don't think that's what people do."

The Ex-Con scoffed. "And how would you know?" He watched Sanders open her mouth to say something, but she closed it. That's when Duncan realized something. "You knew?"

Now Sanders just looked guilty. "Y-Yeah...kinda."

Duncan went wide eyed and stood up. "And you didn't think to…" He trailed off, realizing something else. "Wait a minute, how did you know? Did they tell you?"

The Cadet couldn't help but let out a small laugh. "No. It was...super obvious. I'm honestly surprised _you_ didn't already know."

Duncan couldn't believe it. He looked like something had snapped inside his head, and he had no idea how to process this. Sanders looked worried, partly regretting her choice of words. After a few seconds, Duncan sighed sadly. Sanders watched as the Ex-Con slumped down into his seat. He looked miserable.

Sanders watched in silence. She felt bad for him, but didn't know what to do about it.

* * *

In the dusty dank confines of Loser Class, most of the competitors were asleep. Samey was laying on the long wooden bench, on her side. Though it wasn't comfortable, the Twin was still sleeping peacefully.

That was, until a hand reached for her shoulder and gave her a light shake. Samey was slightly bothered by it, but didn't wake up. The hand shook her again. Same result. This time, the hand gave the Twin a few light pats on her cheek. Samey stuttered, and opened her eyes. She sat up and yamwned. As her vision started to clear, Samey finally saw who it was that woke her up. She gasped.

"Leshawna?"

Samey's eyes were not playing tricks on her. There was the Sistah, herself, standing directly in front of her. Leshawna could see how surprised her friend was, and chuckled. "What's up, Girl?"

Samey's surprise changed to delight, and she threw herself onto her newly returned friend, hugging her neck. Leshawna was thrown back a few steps, but laughed.

"Someone's glad to see me." She joked.

The excited noise from Samey startled some of the other competitors awake. Gwen, Amy and Jo were all sitting on the opposite side. Gwen and Amy quickly noticed the returning competitor. One looked very happy to see Leshawna, while the other gulped and went pale.

**Confessional (Amy): **She had a fearful expression as she rubbed her arm. "W-Wasn't Leshawna eliminated already? Like...a long time ago." She stood in silence. Realizing the trouble she was in, the Twin gulped.

Static.

Finally, Samey and Leshawna separated. "How are you back?" Samey asked, still not believing it.

Leshawna walked over to Gwen. "Thank the producers. Apparently, the reason I got eliminated was because that crazy girl, Sierra, interfered." She gave a small hug to her longtime friend.

Samey gave a curious look, and pondered. "But I thought Sierra interfered in more than one challenge. So they only decided to bring _you_ back?" She suddenly realized what she just said. "...no offense."

Leshawna, finishing her embrace with Gwen, turned to Samey and smirked. "None taken. And you're right...but you're also wrong."

She winked. Samey had no idea what that meant. But she was about to find out.

* * *

Zoey was sitting a few feet away from Gwen. She was glad that her friend looked happy, but something was bothering her.

**Confessional (Zoey): **"Don't get me wrong, I'm really happy Gwen found someone she likes, but...I'm not sure Duncan's gonna be too happy…" She pondered for a second, when someone knocked on the door to the confessional. Zoey turned to it. "Occupied." She called, then looked back at the camera. "I mean...to see _both _of his ex-girlfriends kiss like that...I hope he's taking it well." The knock was heard again. Zoey looked back at it, more annoyed. "Someone's in here." She said, slightly louder. She was about to speak again, when the knock sounded again, harder. Zoey couldn't take it anymore. She reached for the handle. "Alright, fine. If you want the confessional so much, here-"

She had just opened the door, and froze in her tracks. She could see who had knocked on the confessional door. She stood in stunned silence, for a few seconds, before jumping towards the figure. A thud was heard shortly after exiting.

Static.

* * *

"What? What are you doing here?" Zoey exclaimed, in both shock and excitement.

The mystery person laughed. "Missed me, I'm guessing." Mike grinned.

Zoey tried to say something, but she was too overwhelmed to speak. "I can't believe this." She was still laying on top of him, and unleashed a barrage of kisses on his face.

The other competitors watched and laughed. Gwen smiled for her friend, but she looked away and frowned. Zoey gave a quick glance up and noticed. Thinking of her friend's feelings, she got up. Mike followed suit, looking confused. Then he saw his girlfriend looking at Gwen.

"Is she alright?" He whispered.

"Courtney got eliminated, last challenge." Zoey whispered. Then she thought of something, and she looked back at Mike. "Did you not watch anything after you left?"

Mike shook his head. "Wasn't allowed to. Neither was Leshawna." He then looked at the rest of the competitors, and noticed something. "Was...Duncan eliminated?"

"No." Zoey said casually. "He's just up in first class."

Mike nodded, but couldn't help but look worried.

**Confessional (Mike): **He scratched his arm, uneasily. "Ok. I'm _super _happy to see Zoey again but…" He paused, and then sighed. "...I kinda wish Duncan was also gone. I trust my girlfriend, but I'm still not sure about Duncan."

Static

* * *

Noah watched all the excitement, from a distance. Samey was in the process of introducing Jasmine to Leshawna. The four were getting along well. Noah could hear them whispering, and giggling. He frowned.

**Confessional (Noah): **"I can only say 'sorry,' so many times before it just gets annoying...if it hasn't already." He put a finger to his chin, and pondered. "But maybe, hearing it from someone else might help."

Static.

Noah watched as Samey walked away from the trio. She was about to walk by the Brainiac, when he reached out and grabbed her wrist. Samey was surprised at being pulled away, and didn't have time to react. Noah quickly spoke first.

"I need your help." He said quietly, and glanced over to make sure Jasmine wasn't looking at him. Thankfully, she wasn't, so he went on. "I'm trying to make things up for Jasmine. I was wondering if you could talk to her."

Samey's face changed from surprise to bitterness. She glared at the Brainiac. "I don't think you deserve an apology." She said bluntly. Noah was taken aback. "I remember what you did to Jasmine. You threw her DVD into the fire, and made her cry."

Noah cringed. "I didn't mean to." He mumbled, under his breath. "But...yeah...I was a jerk back then." He paused, releasing his grip on the Twin's wrist. "But I really want to make things up to her. I know you guys are friends, and I...I feel bad for what I did." He looked down and sighed sadly.

Samey still looked bitter, but it softened. She noticed the unhappy look in the Brainaic's eyes. She took a deep breath and let it out. "Fine." She sounded somewhat annoyed. "I'll talk to her." Noah looked up at her, and gave a small smile. But Samey pointed at him before he could speak. "But I'm _only _doing this for Jasmine."

Noah was surprised by Samey's declaration. He watched her turn and walk away from him. Once the shock wore off, he let himself give a small, hopeful smile.

* * *

Back in first class, an uncomfortable looking Sanders was sitting on one of the recliner chairs.

**Confessional (Sanders): **She had her arms folded. "I'm….not jealous or anything...about Duncan still having an interest with Gwen, but...I still feel bad for him." She stood in silence for a few seconds before looking defensively at the camera. "I swear I'm not jealous."

Static

Sanders watched as Duncan miserably drank his soda, from the bar area. Suddenly, a thought struck her. She reached into her pocket and walked up.

"Hey, Duncan."

The Ex-Con barely gave a glance to the Cadet. But when he saw she was walking towards him, he groaned and sat upright.

"What do you want?" He didn't bother facing her.

Sanders was annoyed, but smirked. "I just wanted to give you this." She held out a closed fist.

Duncan rolled his eyes, and turned around. He looked down, dully, at the Cadet's balled fist. Slowly, she opened it. When Duncan saw what it was, his eyes opened up.

In Sanders' palm, was a keychain. More specifically, a keychain with an angry Bobcat on it. He looked back up at the smiling Cadet. She held up her Shark Cowboy Keychain.

"I won these, during the Airline challenge." She explained. "I was gonna give one to my partner, but I figured it would make more sense to give it to you...ya know?...You were a Bobcat, and I was a Shark Cowboy." She gave a light chuckle, followed by an awkward cough.

Duncan looked back down at the keychain. Sanders couldn't tell, but he looked like he was processing what to do next. To her surprise, Duncan took the keychain from her. They briefly touched hands, and Sanders found herself blushing a little. He held it up to his face for a few seconds, before putting it down at his side. He looked up at the Cadet.

"Thanks." He said dully, but with a small smile.

Sanders returned it, before walking back to her seat. When he thought Sanders couldn't see him, Duncan pulled out his new keychain and gave a slightly bigger smile. Sanders smirked, knowing exactly what was going on.

Suddenly, the intercom went off. Chef's voice followed shortly. "Competitors. We will be landing in a few minutes. Everyone sit your butts down, and get ready. Once we land, a few announcements will be made."

The intercom cut off, and Sanders and Duncan looked at eachother, both wondering what was in store for them.

* * *

The plane began descending. The area they were landing near, had a large field of grass, a few small hills and some stone walls. The camera quickly cut, and all the competitors were standing together in a grassy field. Duncan was the last to join them, squeezing in between Zoey and Leshawna. He glanced to his left, where Leshawna was, but didn't think much of it. He looked back forward before it suddenly clicked. He suspiciously glanced back at Leshawna, and leaned towards Zoey.

"Wasn't Leshawna eliminated already?" He whispered.

"Yeah." Zoey whispered back. "But the producers decided to bring her back."

Duncan nodded. "Oh yeah, that makes sense. Chris loves doing that. I'm surprised he only brought back one, though."

Zoey wasn't listening, and neither she nor Duncan had bothered to look at Mike, standing on Zoey's other side, giving a confused glare at the Ex-Con.

Chef walked up to the front of the competitors, with two interns in tow. Next to Chef was a tall purple present, nearly reaching Chef's height. He cleared his throat and read off a flashcard.

"Good...afternoon, competitors." His gaze kept switching between the competitors and the card. "Before we begin today's challenge...I would like to make a few announcements. First, you might have noticed that our host, Chris McLean, is not here today."

"Yeah, like any of us _want _to see that jerk." Gwen fumed.

Chef continued. "As of today, Chris will be taking…" He paused, and sniffled a little. "...an indefinite leave of absence." The competitors responded to this news with happy smiles. Chef looked at them, and grumbled to himself, before looking back at his note. "So...as they say, the show must go on, so we found someone" The two interns grabbed the ribbons attached to the side of the present. The competitors were curious. "So," Chef announced, putting the card away. "I present to you the new _TEMP-O-RARY _host," He raised a hand to the present. At that moment, the interns pulled on the ribbons, and the sides of the box fell over. As it fell apart, it was revealed to have a well dressed man. He was wearing a green overshirt, with a white undershirt to boot. He was also wearing dark blue jeans, and brown dress shoes. He also had light brown combed hair. Most of the competitors gave confused looks, but Noah and Sanders immediately recognized who it was. "Don!" Chef finally announced.

There was a short, awkward moment of silence. Another lone intern pulled on a small confetti cannon, sending a burst of confetti flying through the air. It did not change the mood, in the slightest.

Don's smile changed to a look of annoyance. He turned to Chef. "Really? I was expecting something a little bigger than that. Where's the cheering crowds and the dramatic theme music? You didn't even bother mentioning that I hosted the Ridonculous Race which, might I add, saved the ratings bomb that was your last season. If they were going to replace a hasbeen like Chris, they could've gone the extra mile and got me a new assistant." He was looking directly at Chef, smirking. "But if it means that I finally get to host this show, like I _should_ have, then you'll have to do, I guess."

Chef's face went red with fury, but he held his tongue. The rest of the competitors were shocked.

C**onfessional (Gwen): **She had an impressed smile on her face. "I _like _this guy."

**Confessional (Noah): **"Don just called Chris a 'hasbeen.' " He paused, mouth agape. "I think this might be my favorite season."

**Confessional (Jasmine): **"I know a little bit about this guy. He's basically just Chris, but less crazy." She then shrugged. "So, I'm not complaining."

Static.

Don looked back at the competitors, and rubbed his hands together. "Now while some of you might not know me, I definitely know who you all are." He glanced at Noah and Sanders, and winked. "Some more than others." The Cadet and the Brainiac responded with a light chuckle. Don continued. "So as of today, I will be your host. So I hope everyone has fun and plays nice, or whatever. Now, before I introduce the challenge, I must make a few announcements." He cleared his throat. "Now, as some of you may have noticed, we brought back two previously eliminated competitors: Leshawna and...Mike."

Zoey looked up and smiled at her boyfriend, who returned it. Duncan was surprised, finally noticing Mike was next to him.

"After being eliminated because of Feral Sierra, we thought it would be fair that they get a second chance."

Gwen raised an eyebrow. "But wasn't Tyler also eliminated because of Sierra."

"Yup," Don responded. He remained silent for a few more seconds. Gwen suddenly realized how awkward the whole situation was, and she decided not to say anything. Don went on. "Now...it's about time we introduce the challenge." He suddenly made a sharp turn, and looked directly at the camera. "Welcome to Turkey. More specifically, Western Turkey. And even more specifically, the original City of Troy. Back in the way, way old days, the Greeks snuck into the City of Troy, by hiding in a giant wooden horse. The battle was very significant in that it…"

As he went on, the rest of the competitors watched with curiosity and confusion.

"So...is he just gonna...talk to the camera...instead of us?" Duncan quizzed.

Sanders shrugged. "It's what he usually does."

"Honestly, it's better than having Chris explain it to us." Jo added "I came here to win, not for a history lesson." The rest of the competitors nodded.

Once Don finished, he turned back to the competitors. He pointed to the right. They all turned to see a fairly large wooden castle. Don explained. "Today's challenge will be similar to how the Greeks won in that famous battle." He then pointed in the other direction. Two interns were struggling to push a statue of a wooden horse, on wheels. The statue was about the same size as them. "The goal of this challenge is for your team to get that horse into the other team's castle. The other team will defend from the confines of the castle. You'll be using water balloons as weapons to prevent the other team from advancing into your territory."

"Water Balloons?" Jasmine asked, slightly dumbfounded.

"Sort of. You'll see." Don responded, and pulled out a small remote control device. "Anyways, once the horse pushing team gets their horse inside the castle, they'll use this device and push the horse's detonation button. If it goes off in the castle, the round will be over. In the second round, the teams will switch roles and the new horse pushing team will have to do the same thing. However, they will have a time limit. If they can't complete the challenge within the same amount of time the first team took, they'll lose the game and will have to decide who gets sent home."

The competitors nodded, except for Noah. "Wait a minute. Did you say 'teams?' I thought this was the merge, why are we going back to teams?"

Don grinned and pointed at the Brainiac. "Well, my well dressed friend, today's challenge will be a little different. We _are_ still in the merge, but we're splitting the competitors into two teams of six for this challenge. Whoever completes it with the best time, wins. The winning team will not factor into the elimination ceremony." The competitors nodded again. Don clapped his hands together. "Now, enough rules. If I call your name, take a step forward." He eyes the competitors. "Jasmine...Duncan...Mike...Amy...Gwen and...Dawn. Step forward, you'll be the defending team for the first round. You'll also be designated as the Blue Team."

Jasmine frowned, and looked back at Samey. Both were upset about being on opposite teams again. Mike and Zoey gave similar expressions, especially because they were _just_ reunited. Duncan also looked uncomfortable. But not from being separated _from_ anyone.

"You ready for this?" Gwen smirked. She held out a fist for Duncan to bump. The Ex-Con looked at her awkwardly, and hesitantly returned it.

C**onfessional (Duncan): **He sighed. "I never thought I'd say this but...I don't think I want to be on a team with Gwen right now."

Static.

As the announced team headed towards the castle, Don looked at the remaining competitors. "As for the rest of you...Noah...Leshawna...Zoey...Samey...Jo and Sanders, you six will have first go with the horse and will be known as the Red Team." He tossed the device towards them. Sanders caught it in her open palm. Samey watched the other team, and frowned. But when she saw Leshawna looking at her, she smiled slightly.

Don faced the camera, one more time. "Alright, let's get this challenge going. Be prepared...for battle."

* * *

The Blue Team had just entered the castle. If you could call it that. There wasn't much on the inside, aside from the four walls, a raised platform for the competitors to launch the water balloons and two ladders leading up to said platform. Duncan and Gwen headed up to the top, while the rest of the competitors looked at their "weapons."

Amy was still feeling nervous about her situation. She looked over at Jasmine and Dawn, who were strategizing.

C**onfessional (Amy): **She slammed her hands against the table. "I..._can't_ lose this challenge. If those freaks gang up, I'll have no choice but to use the statue. Then, Jo's gonna kill me if that happens." She groaned, hoping for a miracle.

Static.

* * *

Up at the top, Duncan and Gwen were looking at the water balloons. They were in large, blue plastic buckets. Gwen squeezed one.

"How are we supposed to win this challenge, if the only thing we can use to defend ourselves is water?" She said, jokingly. She didn't receive a response though. Confusingly, she turned to face the Ex-Con. Duncan wasn't looking at her. In fact, he was taking a _surprising_ interest in the water balloons. Gwen looked confused. "Duncan, are you alright?" The Ex-Con still wasn't looking at her.

C**onfessional (Duncan): **He uncomfortably crossed his arms. "Gwen...is talking to me." He took a moment to process that. "Two episodes ago, I would've been happy, but now...I don't know. I just don't know."

Static.

The Ex-Con coughed nervously. "Everything's good. But…" He finally stood up and faced his ex-girlfriend. Gwen could see the unsure look on his face. "...I wanted to ask you a question."

Now it was Gwen who looked unsure. "I don't know if this is a good time, Duncan." She looked out. She could see the other team, huddled in a circle. She turned back to the Ex-Con. "How about after today's challenge, we'll have that talk I promised? And if you still want to ask that question, you can then."

Duncan's stomach churned. He desperately wanted to say no, but he knew that would make things worse. "Fine." he said, quietly. He turned back to the water balloons. Gwen frowned.

C**onfessional (Gwen): **"Duncan's probably gonna ask about me and Courtney…" She sighed. "I _really_ hope that's not the case."

Static.

* * *

"Alright team, here's what we're going to do?" Jo started.

"Um, excuse me?" Leshawna interrupted. "Who died and made you leader?"

Jo scoffed. "The only chance we're gonna have to win is with _my_ leadership." Jo got right in her face. "So do yourself a favor and listen to me, and you might last longer than you did when you were _first _eliminated."

Leshawna did not back down, and glared back at the Jockette. "That was _not_ my fault, you loud mouth numb skull. I came back to win and ain't nobody going to tell me what I can and can't do."

Jo shoved the Sistah back. "If you want our team to lose, go right ahead. We'll send you, and your big butt, right out of this game, again."

Leshawna gasped. "Big butt?! Nuh-uh." She started raising the sleeve of her shirt.

A fight was about to break out between the two, but Samey, Zoey and Sanders held them back. Noah watched his team, and thought to himself.

C**onfessional (Noah): **He cupped his hand under his chin. "Now that Jasmine and I are on opposite teams, maybe I can actually focus on the challenge this time." He grinned slightly. "I know it sounds bad, but...I still kinda like having teammates that aren't as smart as me."

Static.

"Alright everyone, shut it!" Noah yelled, stepping in front of the wooden horse. Jo, Leshawna and the rest of the team stopped what they were doing, and looked at the Brainiac. "We're not gonna get anywhere if we're at each other's throats. We don't have to like each other, but I know we all want to win, right?" Jo and Leshawna eyed each other and eased up. "So listen to me, because I'm about to bring our team to victory."

While everyone else seemed to agree, Samey glared at Noah.

C**onfessional (Samey): **"I still don't trust Noah. Or like him." She looked annoyed for a few seconds, before letting out a sigh. "But maybe that isn't fair. He _did _say he wanted to make things up to Jasmine. But, either way, I guess it's a good idea to listen to him."

Static.

Noah went on. "There's six of us, so if we split up into groups, we'll have a better chance of both pushing forward and defending ourselves."

The rest of his team looked at each other, and nodded. They then turned back at the now grinning Brainiac. It was time to set the plan in motion.

* * *

Don stood in between the two teams. He looked from left to right. The Red Team was in formation. Don had supplied them with a few large shields. Noah was at the side of his wooden horse, with an arm over its big neck to stay upright. His teammates stood around him, ready for the challenge to begin. Jo and Leshawna were at the sides of the horse, ready to push it forward. Zoey, Sanders and Samey stood in front, carrying small shields around their arms.

On the castle side, Jasmine, Amy and Zoey stood at the front entrance, while Dawn, Duncan and Gwen were at the top. All six had water balloons ready.

The new host grinned. "Alright, everyone." He ran to a safe viewing point, next to Chef. "The challenge starts in 3...2...1...Go!" The Red team pushed the horse forward, while some members of the Blue team ran towards them.

"Chris does it better…" Chef mumbled.

Don turned, looked at his co-host, and gave him a curious look. "I think we need to up things a little for the next round." He pointed at Chef. "Go find a horn. I'm sure someone in the production truck has one." Chef's mouth went agape. He was about to say something, when Don gave him a stern glare and clapped his hands twice. "Chop, chop. Time is money."

All Chef was left to do was grumble and walk away.

* * *

The challenge began in hectic fashion. The Blue defending team went straight to tossing balloons from their castle. Noah watched the oncoming projectiles and warned his shield carriers to defend. The trio held the shield over themselves, and the balloons exploded on impact. Leshawna and Jo pushed forward, from the rear of the horse.

Jasmine frowned, and tossed another balloon. It went high. Noah watched it, but he didn't realize that the sun was in the way.

"Heads up." He called, ducking next to the horse. He heard the splash and felt the liquid hit his hands. Not wasting anytime, he stood back up. "Alright, now let's-" He stopped, realizing something. He looked at his hand. "I'm stuck."

The rest of his team looked at him. He was trying to remove his hand from the same spot he had put it earlier, and failing to do so.

Sanders stepped back, and tried to pry Noah's stuck hand. It wouldn't budge.

"The water balloons aren't actually water balloons. It's some sticky liquid." Sanders quickly put together.

"Yeah, thanks Einstein." Noah quipped, leading to quick glare from the Cadet. "Look...just keep moving, and don't worry about me. I'll get out of this." He then realized something and pointed at the ground. "Protect the wheels. If they realize what the balloons do, they're gonna try to slow us down."

Sanders nodded, and moved back to the front. She, Samey and Zoey all lowered their stances and blocked the wheels from the balloons.

* * *

Jasmine saw what they were doing. She had seen enough and ran to the middle of the castle. "Everyone. We need to get out there and stop them." She announced. "We're not gonna get anywhere if we stay here."

"What are we supposed to do?" Gwen called from above. "We only have water balloons to protect us."

Jasmine quickly explained what she found out about the balloons.

"Fine." Duncan jumped down. "Let's go." He had a dull, but stern, look on his face. He and Jasmine grabbed a handful of balloons and ran out. Mike watched them leave.

C**onfessional (Mike): **He was scratching the back of his head. "So I'm...totally _not_ skeptical, or anything, about Duncan and Zoey," The tone of his voice begged to differ. "I just wanted to help my teammates, and...make sure everything...is 100%...okay." He gave a nervous, unconvincing smile.

Static.

Mike shortly followed the two, taking a few balloons.

* * *

With the water balloon barrage suddenly slowing down, Noah quickly figured out why. He had also just gotten his hand detached from the horse.

"Heads up." He called, pointing. The rest of his team saw Duncan and Jasmine heading towards them. Quickly Sanders and Samey held up their shields, but Zoey struggled to pick hers up. Jasmine and Duncan tossed their balloons over them. Noah ducked, just avoiding one of them. They landed behind Jo and Leshawna, who watched them fly by. This distraction allowed Duncan and Jasmine to roll out of the way of the shielders and toss their balloons.

Duncan's balloon hit the horse and it splashed onto Leshawna's hands. She tried to pull them off, but now she was stuck. Jo laughed at her misfortune, until her forearm ended up getting stuck to the horse too.

Jasmine and Duncan quickly turned to the shield carriers. Jasmine tossed a balloon at Sanders. It exploded on the shield. Some liquid landed on Jasmine's vest, but did not affect her. Zoey had finally picked up her shield, but in the process of picking it up, the straps broke off. It landed on the ground, and Zoey was without any defense.

She looked up to see Duncan raising a balloon over his head. Instinctively, she covered herself with her hands. When she didn't feel anything, she looked up. Duncan still had the balloon over his head. But he was hesitating and had a nervous look. Unbeknownst to either of them, Mike had just arrived.

At that moment, Jo noticed an unpopped balloon, on the ground, by her feet. Seeing the stalled Ex-Con, she picked it up with her unstuck arm.

"Eat this, Jail Breath!" She threw it.

At that moment, Jasmine showed up behind Duncan and saw what was going on. "What are you-" She was cut off by Duncan getting smacked in the chest with Jo's balloon. The sudden impact caused Duncan to step back into the Aussie.

"Gah." He cried, dropping his other balloon in the process. But then he realized something else. His hand was now stuck to Jasmine's vest.

"Get off of me!" The Aussie shouted.

"I can't, genius. I'm stuck." Duncan grunted

Jasmine tried to throw her other balloon, but Duncan moved slightly, causing her to trip and drop the balloon, splashing herself again and making the two even more stuck. Now their shins were stuck together and they struggled to move.

"We're gonna have to go back." Jasmine said.

"Fine." Duncan agreed, annoyed. "Let's-"

The two had just taken a step back...right into Mike. Jasmine and Duncan immediately lost balance, and toppled forward, bringing Mike with them. As Mike fell, he dropped the two balloons he was carrying and it splashed onto the three.

Now all three of them were stuck to each other and on the ground. "Ma...Mike!? What are you doing here!?" Duncan shouted.

Mike stammered. "I was...following you guys. Wanted to see if you needed any help."

"Some help this is." Jasmine grumbled.

Noah and the rest of his team had recovered and pushed their way past the two. Noah cast an uncomfortable look as he saw Jasmine. Zoey did the same.

C**onfessional (Zoey): **She had a guilty expression, and rubbed the back of her head. "I know it's a challenge, but I felt bad for leaving Duncan like that." She paused, before realizing something. "A-And Mike." She sighed. "I'm still not used to him being back."

Static.

* * *

Amy, Gwen and Dawn watched what was going on. Now half of their team was, at the moment, out of the game. And the Trojan Horse was nearing their castle.

Amy couldn't help but quietly chuckle at what was going on. Gwen realized the issue they were facing. The horse was no about thirty feet from the castle. It wasn't moving too fast, but they were closing in. She quickly came up with a plan.

"Our best chance is to aim for the wheels. We can slow them down, until the rest of our team shows up. But we need to take out the shields first." She immediately went and grabbed one of the remaining balloons from the bucket. She looked at Amy. "You ready?"

Amy took a few moments to answer, but nodded. Gwen looked back at Dawn. "What about you?"

But Dawn didn't look as ready. In fact, she looked defiant. "I will not participate in this barbaric representation of animal cruelty."

Gwen was gobsmacked. "What? It's a horse made of wood."

"It's still a creature. Whether it's made of wood or not, it still has the face of a loving and peaceful creature. Therefore, I can not find it in myself to attack it."

Gwen was completely dumbfounded by Dawn's logic, but knew she didn't have time to think about it. She and Amy both worked to stop the oncoming Red Team.

* * *

Jo and Leshawna were still pushing their horse. Because they had been doing it for a while, it was starting to get strenuous. Suddenly, as they were still pushing, they bumped into something. The two looked up and saw Samey, blocking their path.

"Get out of the way, Blondie!" Jo shouted.

"What's up, Hun?" Leshawna asked, much more caring.

Samey looked back. "My feet are stuck. They threw the balloons on the ground and I walked onto them."

Noah frowned. Zoey still had a broken shield, and Sanders wasn't going to do enough on her own. To top it off, they would waste significant time trying to get around Samey. He had to think quickly.

"Sanders," he called. The cadet turned around slightly, still trying to dodge the balloons at the same time. "Protect Samey. Once she gets unstuck, we can get moving again."

"But won't they just do the same thing again?" Jo called.

"Leave that to me." Noah grinned.

Sanders crouched in front of the Twin, blocking her feet from the balloons. After about another minute, Samey felt her feet become unglued. Now it was time for Noah to set his plan into motion.

"Zoey, give me your shield." He pointed at the Indie Chick, who handed him the strapless shield. Then he turned his attention to Sanders and Samey. "Spread out and block any balloons, but also watch out for the ones that land on the ground." The two nodded, as Noah looked back at Jo and Leshawna. "You two, push forward, and whatever you do, don't stop."

"And what exactly are you gonna do?" Jo asked, skeptical.

Noah then ducked and shimmied his way onto the board, underneath the horse, that was attached to the wheels. "I'm gonna protect the wheels."

Jo and Leshawna weren't sure, but they agreed. They both nodded to each other and pushed as hard as they could

* * *

Gwen could see what was going on and realized that they were in trouble. Not only was Dawn refusing to play, but Amy was a terrible shot with her balloons. Duncan, Jasmine and Mike were still stuck. And even if they weren't, they had no balloons with them.

Noah was still holding his shield over the front wheels, meaning she couldn't directly hit them. She tried throwing another balloon at the ground in front of him, but either Sanders or Samey would show up and block the balloons before they hit the ground. With Amy also still being no help, Gwen was running out of options. She could see Mike, Jasmine and Duncan heading back, but they wouldn't make it in time.

She looked down at her dismal amount of balloons and sighed. She knew they were about to lose.

With a few strenuous pushes, Jo and Leshawna reached the entrance to the castle and pushed the horse in. As it went inside, they ran back the other way. Sanders caught up and pulled out the trigger device.

Duncan, Mike and Jasmine arrived, just in time to see what would happen. The Cadet grinned and pushed the button. Seconds later, a thought struck her. "Wait, did we forget something?" She looked back at the horse, and gulped.

Noah, who was still under the horse, heard a click. He looked up and saw the horse's wooden pieces falling off, revealing a metal interior, encasing a bomb shaped object. It had a timer on it, which was counting down.

5...4...3…

Noah's eyes went wide and his irises shrunk, as he realized the trouble he was in. Thinking quickly, he used his shield to cover the back of his head.

2...1…

From faraway, a GIANT explosion of pink shot high into the sky was seen. It could be seen for miles, and the noise was deafening, even from so far away. Gwen, Dawn and Amy, had to hold onto the castle walls so they wouldn't be swept away. Their other teammates and the enemy team also struggled to stand up straight against the explosion's winds.

After about a minute, the dust settled. The castle was revealed to still be standing, but the inside was covered in pink paint. Some parts of the outside had blobs of pink too.

Don, who had been watching from a safe distance, had a wide grin plastered on his face. "That...was...awesome!" He laughed, while Chef stared at the explosion. Jo, Zoey, Samey and Leshawna had recovered enough to share a celebratory high five. Sanders watched on, looking unsurely at the castle. Don walked up to them. "Congratulations, Red Team. You played hard and you ended the challenge with an impressive time." He looked over to Jasmine, Mike and Duncan. "Your team is gonna have to try and beat the Red Team's time of twenty-one minutes and thirty seconds." The three looked unsure, but Jasmine spoke up.

"We've got this." She said confidently. Mike and Duncan didn't share her enthusiasm.

At that moment, a groaning sound was heard from the castle. Don and the rest of the competitors turned towards it. Noah was just walking out of the entrance, albeit, very dazed and with Gwen by his side, helping him stand up right. His hair was in a mess and his entire backside, from neck to heel was covered in bright pink paint.

Don cringed at the sight. "You alright, Noah?"

"Well," Noah started, shouting. "Aside from the ringing in my ears, and the fact that I'm covered in paint, I'm good."

"Go get him cleaned up. We'll need some time to set everything up again." Don pointed to a mobile trailer. He then turned to a chubby intern. "Get me a cut of that explosion from the studio. Just tell the editor to cut off a clip of it, I'm sure we can use it in a promo for something."

Though his hearing hadn't fully returned, Noah suddenly stopped, catching Gwen off guard. The Brainiac then turned to the new host. "Wait. We have an editing studio here? With, like, footage from the past episodes?"

Don nodded. "We've got a whole setup on the plane. Makes it a lot easier to edit everything together."

Noah didn't respond, but something was definitely going on inside his head. He and Gwen turned and walked away.

* * *

Duncan was lamenting his pitiful performance.

C**onfessional (Duncan): **He gave a heavy sigh. "I don't know what's wrong with me." He paused, thinking over his words, before sighing again. "Ok, I _do _know what's wrong, and it's...it's gotten in my head."

Static.

The Ex-Con stood by himself, until Zoey walked up to him. "How ya feeling?" She asked, carefully.

Duncan didn't answer at first, before groaning. "I've been better. The whole thing with Gwen has really gotten me stressed out."

Zoey gave a look of pity, before changing it to a sad smile. "Well...in any case...good luck in the next round."

Duncan eyed her, but didn't say anything. He just nodded and walked away. Zoey watched him leave, unaware of someone standing behind her.

"Hey...Zoey?"

The Indie Chick turned, then smiled. "Hey, Mike."

Her boyfriend gave a smile, but a very nervous one. "So...what have you been doing...since I left?"

Zoey shrugged. "Not much. I won a few times, lost a few. Thankfully, no one's tried to eliminate me. Oh, and I've been hanging out with Dawn and Duncan."

Mike's face cringed at that last part. "You and...Duncan?"

"And Dawn." Zoey finished, unaware of Mike's discomfort. An awkward silence fell between the two. Zoey finally noticed Mike's expression and frowned. "Mike, are you alright?"

Immediately, Mike started awkwardly coughing. "Oh, yeah. I'm fine. Really glad to be back. Good luck in the next part of the challenge" He looked up and walked away to his team. Zoey watched him, concerned how he was acting.

C**onfessional (Mike): **He looked uncomfortable as he faced the camera. "Am I going crazy, again? I must be. No way those two are…" He trailed off, not wanting to finish the sentence. He sighed. "Now I know how Zoey felt when I was Vito." He blinked, realizing what he just said. "Not that...I think Duncan's...Vito."

Static.

* * *

After another ten minutes, the second was about to start. Jasmine and her team were ready with the horse, while Noah, who had gotten himself clean of the paint, and his team waited in the castle. Don looked between the two teams, then looked at Chef.

"You got the horn?" He asked, with a sly smile. Chef rolled his eyes, but held up a long stadium horn. Don then stepped forward and looked at the Blue Team . "Remember," he announced. "You have twenty-one minutes and thirty seconds to get your horse in the castle and blow it up."

The team nodded, though some didn't look very excited. Don stepped back next to Chef. "The challenge will begin when Chef blows the horn. Which will happen in 5...4...3...2...1..."

Chef raised his horn and blew into it.

C**onfessional (Chef): **"I can't believe they replaced Chris with some new chump that isn't even half as good as him." He crossed his arms and looked away from the camera, and sniffed.

Static.

* * *

The Blue Team didn't have as much of a plan, but did the best they could. Duncan, Jasmine and Mike were at the back, pushing the horse, while Dawn, Amy and Gwen were at the front lines with the shields. They slowly start pushing forward.

"How are we doing?" Jasmine called.

"They're...not doing anything." Came Gwen's voice.

Jasmine stopped and looked up. Gwen was right. The Red Team was all standing at the top level of the castle. They didn't have any water balloons in hand. Jasmine's eyes landed on Noah, and she narrowed them.

"Alright," She started pushing the horse harder. "If they want to give us the win, let's take it." Duncan and Mike weren't sure if that was a good idea, but didn't say anything. They kept pushing along, skeptical of the lack of any defense on the Red Team's part.

But after a few more feet, Noah gave a thumbs up. Jasmine saw and, before she had time to register what it meant, they were met with a shower of balloons. None of them landed on them, instead they splashed in the pathway leading to the castle.

Gwen and Dawn stood in front of the horse, so they didn't get hit by the backsplash. Amy was more focused on avoiding the sticky liquid herself. Jasmine saw this.

"Amy, focus on defending the rest of us." She shouted.

The Twin looked at Jasmine, with a look of disgust. "Do you really think I'm worried about that?" She stopped and pointed upward. "If any of those balloons hit me, I'll-" At that moment, a balloon splash over Amy's head, showering her with the clear liquid. Amy's eyes went wide, and she froze. Her team watched, surprised she wasn't freaking out. After a few seconds, Amy let out a blood curdling scream. She looked up to her sister, laughing at her. She watched her high-five Leshawna, who had a wide grin. Amy's look of disgust turned to an angry glare.

C**onfessional (Amy): **She looked coldly at the camera. "Alright. No way is my lame excuse for a sister getting away with that." She put her hand up to her chain and her expression relaxed. "She's gonna learn what I'm capable of."

Static

"We need a way to get through the balloons." Jasmine declared

"Why don't we just do the same thing the other team did?" Mike noted. "Have someone protect the wheels, while the rest of us push?"

Jasmine wasn't sure. The balloons were still coming down, though not as much as earlier. But even if the liquid dried up, there wouldn't be much time left. She then looked up at the other team. She could see Noah, standing in the middle of his team. Her face soured and she looked back. "They'll be expecting that. We need to do something different."

"Well if you got any bright ideas, now's the time." Duncan grunted

Jasmine still wasn't sure what to do. But then a thought struck her. She looked back up at Noah, and the oncoming balloons. She gave a thoughtful expression, then made her decision. Without a word, she walked away from Mike and Duncan. The two eyed her.

"What are you…" Duncan started, but trailed off.

Gwen was still working to protect the team from any backsplash. Jasmine walked up next to her. "Go help the guys. I have an idea." She said plainly.

Gwen was confused, but didn't say anything. As she walked back, she kept looking back at the Aussie. Jasmine took a deep breath and stepped in front of the horse.

* * *

Noah had been watching what was happening, curious what Jasmine was planning. But as soon as she stepped in front of the horse, Noah figured it out. He stretched his hand out. "Stop." He called to his team.

Leshawna, Sanders, Samey and Zoey all stopped suddenly, curious what was going on. But Jo was still focused on the challenge. She chucked a balloon at Jasmine. It splashed by her foot, but didn't directly hit her. Noah quickly walked up to her. "Hey." He raised his voice. "I said to stop."

Jo looked at him, confused. "Why?"

Noah looked back down at Jasmine, then back to Jo. "We're trying to stop them from advancing. Hitting Jasmine head on does nothing for us."

Jo just scoffed, and raised her arm, with a balloon in hand. "Yeah right. Let's test that theory." She was about to throw the balloon, but Noah got to it first. He slapped the balloon...a little too hard. The impact caused the balloon to explode in Jo's hand. And with Noah's hand also coming in contact with the liquid and Jo's hand, it only meant one thing. Their hands were stuck

"You idiot." Jo shouted. "You're gonna make us lose."

"You didn't need to throw it at her." Noah said, defiant.

Jo just looked at the Brainiac, with a look of both surprise and annoyance. "Fine," she declared. "But if this costs us the game…" She pointed at him, with her free hand. "..._you're_ going home."

Noah stayed headstrong, but when he looked back down at Jasmine, he looked very uncomfortable. The rest of his team watched on, unsure what to do.

* * *

Jasmine was still looking up. She had seen everything that had just happened.

C**onfessional (Jasmine): **She stood slack jawed in the confessional. "I...I-I was not expecting that to actually work." She paused, deep in thought. "Maybe...maybe I was wrong…" Immediately she shook her head. "No...no I wasn't wrong at all. No way he would do that, unless he had an ulterior motive." Despite her statement, she still sounded like she was doubting herself.

Static.

Jasmine looked back at her team. "Alright, let's move on." Her voice didn't sound very confident. She started walking forward.

Mike and Duncan looked at each other and shrugged. They started to push the horse forward, but Gwen stood in place, mouth agape.

"What?!" She shrieked at Jasmine. "_This_ is how you want to win this?" The Aussie Native glanced back, now looking more guilty. Gwen's face soured and she grunted. "Whatever, but I'm NOT happy about this." She helped the guys push, still angry.

Jasmine looked back, trying to repress her guilt. Amy and Dawn walked next to the horse, equally confused what was going on. Jasmine tilted her head up, and saw Noah. He had a very uncomfortable expression on his face. Jasmine thought again for a few moments. She looked at the castle entrance. They were only about twenty feet away from it, and since no one was firing down at them, it could be an easy victory. But seeing Noah's face made Jasmine's stomach churn. _Why? _She thought. He had done nothing but ridicule her, since the game began. She deserved this, if anything. But...he was trying to be a better person...wasn't he?

Jasmine looked up one more time. Guilt had been creeping up on her, as she walked. Finally it was becoming too much and she stopped. Mike, Duncan and Gwen all saw her, and they too stopped the horse. Noah and his team watched on too. Noah was especially taking interest.

With her head down, Jasmine turned and walked to the end of the horse. "Go back to defending," She said to Gwen, still not looking up. "I'll take care of this."

Gwen was surprised, but did as she said. Though she was still angry. Jasmine sighed and looked at Mike and Duncan. "I might have an idea, but I'm not sure how well it will work."

* * *

After a few minutes Jasmine had her plan set up. She, as well as Mike, Duncan and Gwen all had picked up the wooden horse from the bottom and were carrying it like a couch. Amy and Dawn, with their shields, stood by their side.

"Remember," Jasmine said to the two. "If one of us gets stuck, one of you needs to take over and keep us moving." She nodded at Dawn, then glared at Amy. The Twin didn't think it was a good plan, but didn't want to lose, so didn't say anything. Jasmine looked back at her carriers. "Alright, let's do this."

The four started moving forward. The horse was heavy, but with all four of them, it wasn't as bulky. Noah, who had just come unstuck from Jo, told his team to throw the balloons again. He was planning on hitting the ground again to stop them from advancing. But this time, the Blue team watched carefully. If a balloon was coming towards them, Dawn or Amy (mostly Dawn) would run in front and block the balloon. At one point, Mike's foot got stuck from a balloon and they were forced to stop. .

"Dawn," Jasmine called. "Take over for Mike." The MoonChild nodded and helped carry the horse. It was heavy for her, but she still managed. They left Mike behind, with Dawn's shield. Amy was left to defend from the balloons by herself. She was barely managing, but was able to block a few of them.

* * *

Noah watched the Blue Team get closer and closer. He didn't know how much time was left. Jo watched, next to him.

"What are we supposed to do?" She grumbled. "We only have so many balloons left."

Noah thought for a second. Then an idea struck him. "It doesn't matter if they get the horse in the castle. As long as they don't hit the detonation button."

Jo grinned at the idea. Noah went over to tell the rest of his team.

* * *

Jasmine and her team had picked up the pace and were getting closer. Mike had just gotten unstuck, and had taken over carrying the horse again. They were nearly there, when Jasmine realized something. "Why aren't they throwing any balloons?"

Her teammates saw this too. Their opponents were still visible, but no one was doing anything. Jasmine looked concerned, but Duncan cut her off.

"Who cares? Let's get this thing inside."

Jasmine still wasn't sure, but decided to go with it. They sped up towards the castle. Jo stood, waiting with a balloon in hand. Once they reached the entrance, the Blue Team dropped the horse and gave it one final push into it. They then took off in the other direction. Jo aimed her balloon. Once they were a few feet away, Jasmine reached into her pocket and pulled out the detonation button. She flipped over the cover, and was just about to push the button when a balloon knocked the device out of her hand and exploded. Thankfully, the button didn't activate when it hit the ground. Jasmine looked back to see Zoey, Sanders, Samey and Leshawna, heading their way, all with balloons. They started tossing them at the other team. Jasmine tried hitting the button, but it wouldn't budge. Dawn noticed this and blocked the balloons with her shield. Duncan noticed the same thing, and yanked the other shield out of Amy's hands. The Red Team kept moving forward, while the Ex-Con and the Moon Child blocked the projectiles.

Jasmine tried pushing the button again, but it was still stuck. She decided it was best to wait for a few seconds and try again. Duncan and Dawn were doing a good job protecting her, but she didn't know if it was enough.

"Push the button already." Amy called to her. But the Aussie ignored her. A balloon got past Duncan and Dawn and nearly hit Jasmine. She tried again to push the button. This time she felt less resistance. With a deep breath, she raised her fist and slammed it on the button.

* * *

Noah and Jo watched from their castle, when they heard a click. The two looked back and saw the horse's wooden frame coming apart. They immediately figured out what was going to happen, and gulped. Jo grabbed Noah and put him in front of her. The Brainac tried to get out of her grasp, but knew it was pointless. He could see the timer going down.

"Not again," He cried, shutting his eyes.

Similar to last time, there was a giant earth shattering explosion. The only difference, this time, was that the explosion was blue. All of the other competitors tried to keep themselves upright from the winds. But after a while, everything calmed down. No one knew what to say, until Don walked up.

"And with that, the challenge is finished." He paused for dramatic effect, letting the competitors wait for his next announcement. "And the winning team is…

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...The Blue Team!"

Jasmine and the rest of her team cheered. They all high-fived each other, while the Red Team members watched on, slightly disappointed. Zoey gave a thumbs-up, though. Mike noticed it, and smiled. Duncan also saw it, and gave a thumbs-up himself. Mike looked at him, and frowned slightly.

Don wasn't finished talking though. He raised his hand, silencing the cheers. "Yes, the Blue Team wins the challenge..._if_ the challenge had ended four seconds ago." He turned to the aforementioned Blue Team. "You guys just missed the deadline and because of that...The Red Team wins the challenge."

The four members of the Red Team cheered. Samey and Leshawna high-fived and hugged, while Zoey smiled at the two. Sanders also smiled and high-fived Leshawna.

The Blue Team was left in shock. Don walked up to them. "Blue team, sorry for your loss. But you know what this means?" He pointed at them. "I'll see all six of you at tonight's elimination ceremony." With that, he turned and strode away.

While the team disappointingly walked away, Amy waited behind. She knew Jasmine and Dawn were going to vote for her. Then she would have to use the statue, which she didn't want to do just yet. She had to think of something.

* * *

"So we need your help voting for Amy. So can you vote with us tonight?"

Back on the Loser Class, Jasmine had just finished explaining her plan to Duncan. She needed the other vote to make sure Amy was going home.

Duncan didn't seem that interested, but shrugged. "Sure, whatever."

The Aussie smiled and turned to walk away. But when she did, she came face-to-face with Noah. Like last time, his entire front was covered in paint. He didn't look very comfortable. He hadn't even noticed Jasmine as he walked by. The Aussie watched him, still feeling guilty over what she did. Once Noah had entered the first class section, Jasmine turned and walked the other way. Duncan was now by himself.

But not for long.

"Hey…"

The Ex-Con turned to see Gwen coming up to him. He knew what was coming, and cringed at the thought. The Goth Chick walked right up to him.

"So...I figured you wanted to have that talk now." She sighed. "So whatever you want to say-"

"How long have you and Courtney been dating?" Came the blunt reply.

Gwen was caught off guard by the sudden question. Duncan hadn't wasted a single moment to ask. She sighed again, and sat down. "A few months after All-Stars, Courtney wanted to apologize for...betraying me. We met up and…" She paused, giving a small smile. Duncan noticed and sat down, turning his head away from her. Gwen went on. "Well, one thing led to another and...we started dating, and...I've been really happy."

"I'm glad." Duncan responded, though quietly.

Gwen noticed the expression on her Ex-Boyfriend's face and frowned. "Is...Is that all you wanted to say?"

A long silence followed. Finally Duncan gave his answer. "Yeah." He responded.

Gwen was surprised by how quickly the whole talk lasted. She stood up, but still faced him. "Duncan, I know this probably isn't how you wanted to see me again, but I don't want to sugar coat anything for you. Courtney and I didn't want to associate ourselves with any boys, considering what happened to us in the last seasons...so I can't really talk to you for the rest of the game." she paused, taking note of Duncan's downcast expression. "I'm sorry."

Duncan still hadn't looked at Gwen. He just kept staring at the metal floor. "It's fine." He mumbled.

Gwen wasn't sure what else to say, or do. So she decided to leave. Once she was out of sight, The Ex-Con leaned back, and cupped his face with his hands, and let out a long heavy sigh. He didn't know what to do. But his mope session was quickly interrupted.

"Hey, Duncan."

The Ex-Con looked to see Mike standing by his side, with an awkward smile. "I-I wanted to talk to you about something."

Duncan turned his head back. "I'm not in the mood."

Mike was surprised, but stood firm. "No, I really need to talk to you about this.

Duncan leaned upright and looked at his teammate, with a cold stare. Mike was taken aback. Duncan might've said something, but both of them were interrupted by the presence of someone else.

"I think you're gonna want to hear what _I _have to say."

Mike and Duncan turned to see Amy, who had a smug grin plastered on her face. The Ex-Con didn't look impressed. "And could that possibly be?"

Amy didn't say anything at first, she just kept grinning. "I have an offer to make."

* * *

Later, it was time for the elimination ceremony. The six Blue Team members all sat on the bleachers. No one looked too happy, especially Duncan and Mike, the former of whom looked very guilty. Jasmine grinned at the Twin. Amy was not phased though. Don stood in front, with a plate of barf bags. He looked excited.

"Alright, first elimination ceremony. Gotta make this good." He noticed all the faces in front of him, and frowned. "You guys could at least try to look happy for me." He quickly went back to jovial. "You're are all familiar with the rules, so I won't bother. Let's see who's going home." He picked up a barf bag with one hand and tossed them to the first competitors. "Duncan, Mike, Gwen. All three of you are safe." Gwen and Mike easily caught their bags, but Duncan just let his fall to the floor. He hadn't even bothered to pick his head up. Don continued, looking at the remaining competitors. "Jasmine, Dawn and Amy. You three all received at least one vote. One of you is going home."

The Aussie was surprised that someone voted for her, and looked back. She noticed the bitter expression from Gwen that was coming her way and immediately turned away. Don pointed at her. "Jasmine, I see you looking worried, and advice that you don't...because you're safe." He tossed the bag over to her. Jasmine caught it, and though she was relieved to be safe, she still felt guilty. Don turned to the remaining two: Dawn and Amy. Amy's unphased stare had turned into a look of slight discomfort, while Dawn kept her usual blank stare.

"With only one bag remaining," Don announced. "The person going home today is…"

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…Dawn."

This announcement was met with immediate shock from Jasmine and the MoonChild. They both watched as Amy caught the bag, her smug grin having returned.

The Aussie looked at the host. "How is this possible?" She asked.

Don shrugged. "Hey, the votes don't lie."

Dawn was still surprised over the announcement. She looked back at Duncan and Mike. The latter looked very guilty, but Dawn noticed Duncan looking at her. As soon as the two made eye contact, the Ex-Con quickly glanced back down at the ground. Despite her shock, Dawn didn't look angry. She did however glare at Amy, who was proudly eating her reward.

Without another word, Dawn stood up, grabbed her parachute, walked to the exit, gave one last look at her ex-teammates and jumped out the waiting door. The awkward silence that followed, once Don closed the door, was deafening. No one knew what to say.

Finally, Don cleared his throat and looked at the camera. "Well...talk about drama. We've got two returning competitors, as well as a plethora of others, all fighting for the opportunity at five million dollars. Everyone's putting on their game faces. Don't blink or you might miss the action. But it all goes on," The camera quickly zoomed in on Don's face. "With me." He flashed his traditional smile, before the camera zoomed back out. "We'll see you next time on a brand new episode of...Total...Drama...Legends...Nailed it!"

* * *

Later, Don was heading towards his private room, which was originally meant for Chris. The mere thought of that, made Don giddy. But his walk was interrupted.

"Don!"

The new host turned to see Noah coming up to him.

"Noah" Don greeted. "What can I do for you?"

The Brainiac didn't give an answer at first, like he was processing what to say next. Finally he took a deep breath. "I know this might seem a little weird to do but...I wanted to ask you for a favor."

* * *

**Oh, boy. I stayed up 'till 4am to get this chapter done and I hope that doesn't show. I'm happy with how this chapter turned out, but I'm also really tired. Oh and some people were right about Dawn going next. She doesn't have much else going on, unlike everyone else. Speaking of, who do you think is going next? Also, let me know what you think about Leshawna and Mike being back. That's all I got for now. **

**Peace be with ya.**

* * *

Merge: Amy, Duncan, Gwen, Jasmine, Jo, Leshawna, Mike, Noah, Samey, Sanders and Zoey

Blue Team: Jasmine, Duncan, Gwen, Mike, Amy and Dawn

Red Team: Samey, Leshawna, Noah, Zoey, Jo and Sanders

Placement:

22nd: Sierra

21st: Lightning

20th: Tyler

19th: Cody

18th: Heather

17th: Alejandro

16th: Owen

15th: Macarthur

14th: Scott

13th: Courtney

12th: Dawn

Votes:

Dawn: Duncan, Mike, Amy

Amy: Dawn, Jasmine

Jasmine: Gwen


	16. Heck's Kitchen

**Thank you for the reviews from the last chapter. Remember to leave a one for this chapter, once you're done reading it. **

* * *

**Now, this is usually where I respond to your reviews, which have been mostly positive and I thank everyone for leaving one, but I'm gonna do something a little different. Real quick though, you will find out what Amy said to Duncan and Mike in this chapter, I'm happy people enjoyed the last chapter and its challenge and Gwen and Duncan's storyline is NOT over just yet. **

**Now, before you read this chapter, let me recommend you something. I've been reading two fairly new competition stories and both are showing a lot of promise. **

**Total Drama Voyage by KirbyStarWarrior takes the competition onto a luxurious cruise ship. It's a mix of all generations and some RR. This is Kirbystar's first competition story and it's already off to a good start. Please go check it out. **

**Total Drama Wars by WhatTheHeck23 is also a really good series so far. Basically, it's a rewrite of All-Stars (without the All-Stars concept). It's showing a lot of promise and would highly recommend it. **

**I left links to them on my profile, so get to it. **

**Alright! On with the chapter.**

* * *

The episode opened with the McPlane, taking off from a runway. The new host, Don, opened with the recap. "Alright, first time doing the recap. Let's go. Last time...on Total Drama Legends. The final ten became the final twelve when Mike and Leshawna were brought back to stir up some old drama. Two friends (Leshawna and Samey) were reunited, while another (Mike) questioned his own relationship. The competitors were split back into teams for this challenge. Tempers flared (Leshawna and Jo), rivalries were renewed (Amy & Samey) and a certain brainiac was forced to deal with not one, but two, ginormous explosions. Amy was on the chopping block, but it was Dawn who took the plunge. I have no idea what she did, but this cheerleader is definitely playing to win."

The camera flashed to Don, relaxing on a recliner chair. "And yes, you _are_ seeing correctly. It is I, Don, former host of the Ridonculous Race, as the new host of Total Drama. Temporary, as I've been told, but leaving a permanent place in your hearts." A scrawny intern walked up to him, with a glass of water. Don looked up, took the drink, frowned and handed it back. "Uh, I asked for a lemon in this, thank you very much." The intern gave a worried look, and ran off with the glass. Don looked back at the camera, and grinned. "We're serving up some spicy drama, and with a "totally original" challenge coming up, one competitor will get burnt, and will have to leave the game. Check it out...right here...on Total...Drama...Legends! I am nailing this!"

* * *

The First Class section of the McPlane was filled with happy and relaxing competitors. Most of the members of Red Team were enjoying their reward, among other things, immensely. Jo was relaxing in a lounge chair, away from everyone else, Zoey walked by with a small plate of food, while Leshawna and Samey sat at the bar, chatting to each other.

"Girl, you gotta tell me what's been happening. I was gone for nearly ten episodes." Leshawna said, looking around. "I was surprised both Heather and Alejandro were gone."

Samey smiled at her friend. "Oh my god, so much has happened." She stopped and thought for a second. "Well, I got to direct a scene for one of the challenges, which was fun." Her smile changed to a cringe, having to recall the memory. "That was also the episode that Heather got eliminated."

Leshawna laughed. "I can't say I'll miss her. I like her more than I used to but…" She trailed off, noticing the Twin's uncomfortable expression. "What's wrong, Hun?"

Samey snapped out of her trance and looked back at Leshawna. "Oh, sorry. I was just…" She sighed. "...remembering what happened in that challenge. Heather...blew up...like really bad.."

Leshawna's curiosity was peaking. "How bad are we talking?"

Samey gave another uncomfortable look. "She...scarred Dawn...emotionally."

The Sistah's eyes went wide. "She scared the freaky girl?" Samey nodded. Leshawna didn't know what to say.

C**onfessional (Leshawna): **She looked at the camera, still shocked. "I knew Heather was bad, but I did not think she was capable of scaring Dawn like that." She put her hands to her hips and smirked. "Girl's tough if she's lasted this long. She's got a good friend in Sammy."

Static

On the other side of First Class, Sanders was sitting by herself. She was holding her Shark Cowboy keychain, not sure what to think.

C**onfessional (Sanders): **She was still looking at her keychain. "Last time I talked with Duncan, it was...nice, I guess. I mean, I don't think I made anything...worse for him." She gave a heavy sigh. "I never thought I'd say this, but I'd give anything to talk to him again."

* * *

Unbeknownst to Sanders, Duncan was also looking at his keychain. He stared, laying on his back, on the uncomfortable wooden bench. But that wasn't bothering him. He was too busy thinking about what had happened before the elimination ceremony back in Turkey. He looked over to see a very smug, and very proud Amy sitting by herself. Duncan's face immediately scowled. But then he cringed as he started to recall what had happened after the challenge.

**(Start of Flashback)**

_Mike and Duncan gave blank stares at the Twin, who was grinning at them. "So do you guys want to hear about my offer?" _

_Mike continued to stare, but Duncan scoffed. "What could you possibly have to offer us, Blondie?" _

_Amy pretended to look concerned. "Well, it's just that...I don't think you guys want to go home just yet." She turned and started to walk away. _

_Duncan gave a confused look. "What are you talking about?" _

_Amy stopped, and unbeknownst to the boys, smirked devilishly. Just as she had planned. She turned back with her feigned look of worry. "I promised the girls I wouldn't tell you, but…" She paused, keeping the guys in more suspense. "...they're planning an all girls alliance to vote you off." _

_Duncan and Mike's eyes went wide. "What? That's crazy." Mike stated. "No way Zoey would try to vote me off." _

"_Actually," Amy answered, looking at Mike. "You're the last person they plan on eliminating." Then she turned to Duncan. "And you're the first one to go." _

_Duncan didn't say anything at first, but crossed his arms and looked at the ground. "Why me though?" _

_Amy knew Duncan was buying into it and took a seat next to him, still acting concerned. "It's...it's actually Gwen." Amy could see Duncan's eyes nearly burst out of their socket upon hearing this. She went on. "She thinks the whole situation with Courtney being gone, and you still being here, is too much and she wants to see you gone." She paused again, letting Duncan think about what she was saying. _

"_Well, why should we believe you?" Mike butt in. "You seriously got all the girls to band together and vote us out?"_

_Amy tried to look unphased, but she didn't know how long she could keep the lie going._

"_Mike," Duncan spoke up, looking at him. "Vote with us tonight, and I'll give that stupid talk you wanted." _

_Amy was shocked at what was just said. So was Mike. He was about to say something, but then he realized what Duncan was giving him. He also felt overwhelmed with the two pairs of eyes staring at him. Finally, with too much running through his head, he gave in. "Fine. We'll vote with you tonight." He said, looking at Amy. _

_The Twin was still in shock. Her plan had actually worked. But not wanting to waste the opportunity, she grinned and leaned in so only the two boys could hear him. "Here's who we're gonna vote for..."_

**(End of Flashback) **

The last few words from Amy lingered in his mind. It bothered him so much, he gripped the keychain in his right hand and slammed his fist, with his left hand, against the side of the plane.

**Confessional (Duncan): **Angrily, he gripped his green mohawk, leaning his elbows on the confessional sink. "I can't believe I actually believed what that stupid cheerleader said." He put his hand down, and stood up. "No way Zoey would try to eliminate me, she's too nice." He paused, thinking of something else. "And I don't think that Cadet would vote for me either, I'm pretty sure. She's too…" He tried to think of a word, but nothing came out. Instead he put his hands in his pocket and frowned sadly. "I was actually starting to like that...weirdo." He cupped his hand over his face, miserable. But a few seconds later, he put them down and scowled. "She caught me at a bad time, and she knew it. I wasn't thinking straight, and she took full advantage of that." He gave a small laugh and a smile. "I'd be almost impressed…" He then changed to an angry glare. "...if I wasn't so pissed off! The next time I see that slimy little cheerleader, I'm gonna-"

Static

* * *

Jo was still relaxing in her lounge chair, until she heard a noise. She opened her eyes, and turned her head. Noah had just walked out from the curtain. He was carrying a thin black box in his hand, but Jo didn't notice. She was more curious why Noah had such heavy bags under his eyes.

"You get any sleep last night, Brain Boy?" She asked.

Noah rubbed his eyes. "Yeah-yeah that's it." He mumbled. "And that this show needs a better way of organizing things." He said this part under his breath. Jo either didn't hear, or didn't care and went back to sleep. Noah stared at the box for a bit, before rubbing his eyes again. "I need a nap..." And he went over to the foldout beds.

* * *

Zoey had walked into the loser class section, with a small plate of shrimp in hand. Mike smiled once he saw her. He walked up to her, and gave her a small kiss on the cheek. Zoey smiled.

"Hey, Mike." She said, holding out the plate. "I brought some food." Mike smirked, and delighted, took the food and plopped it in his mouth. Zoey looked around, with a curious look. She looked back up at her boyfriend. "Where's Duncan?"

Mike's smile quickly faded and he almost choked on his shrimp. Quickly, he swallowed it down and tried not to look nervous. "I-I...I think I saw him go into the confessional."

Truth be told, Mike kinda wanted to see Duncan too. The Ex-Con had promised him the talk he asked for and Mike still wanted it. However, ever since Dawn's elimination, Duncan was in a noticeably foul mood, and Mike didn't think it was a good time to talk to him.

Zoey looked like she was going to say something, but was cut off.

"I'd like to see him too."

Zoey and Mike turned to see a glaring Australian. Jasmine marched up to Mike, and aggressively shot a finger in his face. "I want to know why Dawn was eliminated."

Mike gulped, while Zoey looked surprised. "Dawn got eliminated?"

Jasmine put her hand down and looked at Zoey. "Yeah, she did." She paused, clearly annoyed. Zoey and Mike glanced at each other, before Jasmine looked at Mike again. "And _he _was partly responsible for her elimination because I know for a fact that I didn't vote for Dawn. That can only mean you and Duncan voted her off. So tell me…" She leaned in, coming face-to-face with Mike. "...what exactly happened?"

Mike started sweating. Not only was Jasmine in her face, Zoey was just as curious what was going on and stared at him. Thankfully, Mike didn't have to answer.

"You're one to talk."

Zoey, Jasmine and a very grateful Mike all turned to Gwen. She walked up to the trio, looking stern. "Whatever Mike did, it was nowhere near as bad as what _you_ did." She was looking at Jasmine. The Aussie was caught off guard and couldn't find her voice. Mike and Zoey decided it was best to stay out of their business and stepped away.

Finally, Jasmine was able to speak. "What are you talking about?" She said, confused.

Gwen held her glare. "I think you know exactly what I'm referring to. When you stepped in front of the horse, knowing full well Noah wouldn't aim for you."

Now it was Jasmine's turn to feel uncomfortable. "That was…I didn't...Noah did a lot of bad things to me too, so why…" She trailed off, thinking of something else to say. "It was strategy. I was just trying to give our team the win." She said abruptly.

Gwen wasn't convinced. "Yeah, right. You knew Noah was trying to make up for the things he did to you. Yeah, he might've done some crappy things back then, but he's trying to change. But honestly, what you did was lower than anything he's ever done." She turned and stomped away, leaving Jasmine with her thoughts.

She _did_ feel bad about manipulating Noah. She did think what she did was wrong. _Maybe he has changed, and I'm just too stubborn to admit it, she_ thought to herself. With a heavy and sad sigh, she sat down.

* * *

Sanders was heading towards the confessional. She didn't have any dirt or anything to reveal. She just wanted to use the lavatory for its original purpose. Once she came to the door she could see it said 'unoccupied.' She grabbed the handle and tried to open it. But before she did, she thought she heard something. It was coming from the confessional itself. Sanders figured someone else was using it, so decided to wait. But as she did, she could hear the muffle voices of whoever was inside. Curiously, Sanders leaned closer and put her ear up to the door.

**Confessional (Duncan): **At that point, the Ex-Con had been getting tired from his rant, but was still very angry. "Mark my words, I am going to get back at that cheerleader if it's the last thing I do. No one makes a fool of me and gets away with it." His scowl then relaxed a little. He looked a little embarrassed. "Ok...there was that time Alejandro and Heather ganged up to eliminate me...and the time I got arrested on national TV...and the time that-" He shook his head. "You know what? It doesn't matter. If that blonde-haired she-devil thinks she can mess with me, she's gonna learn the hard way that I don't forget so easily…"

Static

As Duncan continued his rant, Sanders listened in amazement. Though she couldn't hear everything clearly, she knew the Ex-Con was in a bad mood. Whatever Amy had done to him, it had really gotten to him. Suddenly, it got quiet. Sanders leaned in closer, trying to hear what he was saying.

WHAM.

At that moment, the door flung open and Sanders was smacked back. A still very grumpy Duncan exited from the stall, not noticing the fallen Cadet. As he walked out, he slammed the door behind him, and glanced to his right. He looked back forward, before suddenly realizing Sanders was there.

The Cadet, who was still on the ground, rubbed her cheek. She opened her eyes and froze once she saw Duncan looking down at her. Quickly she tried to save face. "Oh," she nervously chuckled. "I was just...doing some...sit ups...next...to the...bathroom." She chuckled again, realizing how weird she must be sounding.

Duncan gave a blank stare. For the first time in a good while, he had forgotten to be mad. The two just looked at each other, neither saying a word. Finally, Duncan held out his hand. Sanders stared at his open palm, unsure of what to do. Eventually, she extended her arm to reach his hand. He helped pull her up, and soon Sanders was back on her feet. There was an awkward moment of silence, before Sanders realized she was _still _holding the Ex-Con's hand.

"Oh," she stammered, pulling her hand away. "I was just...about to...use the bathroom. So…" She shimmied her way into the stall. "I'll...see you later...Duncan." And she closed the door, leaving Duncan alone. Thankfully, he wasn't as angry as he was earlier. But he was now very, very confused.

**Confessional (Sanders): **She cringed, thinking about what just happened. "I need to learn how to be more smooth, because that was terrible. Hopefully he has a thing for...girls who have no idea how to talk to guys that they like." She sighed, doubting herself.

Before she could say anything else, an intercom went off. "Attention, competitors," Don's voice rang out. "We'll be landing shortly, so I suggest everyone strap in. I hope everyone brought some ice with them...because you might get burnt in this challenge…" He chuckled. "Good work, Don, good work."

The intercom went off, leaving Sanders very confused. "Was he just talking to himself?"

Static.

* * *

The competitors were already lining up in front of Don, who was walking and talking in front of the camera. Behind them were a set of small buildings, lined up next to each other.

"Welcome to Spain," he started. "Home to some of the nicest restaurants in the world. Out of the top fifty…"

As he went on, the competitors finished lining up. Samey looked down the line. She was the last to enter the line, and noticed something as she exited the plane. She looked down at the competitor and counted in her head. _That doesn't add up _she thought. Then counted again. Including herself, there were only eleven competitors in line. Who was-

At that moment, it hit the Twin.

**Confessional (Samey): **She had a confused look on her face. "Wait, so...Dawn...was eliminated? Jasmine and Dawn both had the chance to eliminate my sister...but _Dawn_ got voted out?" She tried to comprehend. "H-how?" Then she realized something. "Amy…"

Static

Samey's initial shock turned into sadness. She sniffed a little. Leshawna heard it and turned. She quickly noticed Samey's sad expression and leaned in. "What's wrong, hun?"

Samey began to tear up slightly, "Dawn…" she was choking up. "Dawn's not here."

Leshawna looked at the line and realized that Samey was right. Then Leshawna ended up looking eyes with Samey's smirking sister. Leshawna glared, but soon turned back. Samey was still trying to hold back tears, which caused Leshawna to frown. She put a comforting arm around the Twin's shoulder. Samey leaned her head on her friend, and sighed sadly.

Jasmine, who was standing further down the line, saw Samey's sad state and frowned.

Don walked up the eleven competitors and put his hands to his hips. "Alright," he started, sounding a little annoyed. "Since I'm pretty sure _none_ of you were listening to what I said...Welcome to Spain!" He held out his arms to allow the competitors to admire their surroundings and the colorful buildings. Don continued. "Of the fifty nicest restaurants in the world, seven of them are in Spain, and three of them are in the top ten." He gave a wide grin. "Today will be a cooking challenge unlike any you've ever faced." He started to walk away, while the competitors followed him. "It's unique because you won't be cooking for me." He paused for dramatic suspense. "You'll be cooking for...people. As in...customers, patrons or whatever. Point is, you're going to be working...as chefs in a kitchen."

Most of the competitors looked a little worried.

**Confessional (Jo): **She had her arms crossed. "Geez, what kinda lame challenge is this? I don't know a thing about cooking food. Especially for people I don't know." She sat in silence for a moment before pointing aggressively at the camera. "In any case, they better like what I give them. I'm gonna cook the crap out of everything."

**Confessional (Noah): **Weirdly enough, he was smirking. "Alright, this is a challenge I can get behind. I've dealt with bad customers before." He chuckled. "And by bad customers I mean my siblings." Then he pondered. "But why does this seem familiar?"

Static

Duncan looked around. "So are we cooking in one of these fancy shmancy shindigs? I don't think they'd trust an ex-convict to touch their food."

Don pointed at him. "Good call, my friend. And no." He pointed at a nearby building. "You'll be cooking _there_." The building was only one story, and white. It had large windows and a few plants in the front. Don opened the doors and presented the interior. It was a lot nicer on the inside. The floor tiles, the tables and the ceiling were all white. There was another wall, and some plants, that split the restaurant into two sections. On the other side were two openings on the wall that seemed to be where the kitchens were.

Don turned around. "Now before you worry, you'll only have to cook simple things that even a dummy couldn't mess up." He chuckled to himself, before clapping his hands together. "Alrighty then, let's get everything set up. Like the last challenge, this will be a team game."

Gwen raised an eyebrow. "You know this is supposed to be the merge, right? Why so many team challenges?"

"Relax," Don quickly replied. "This will be the last team challenge."

Gwen seemed satisfied with the answer, but Noah was thinking. "A team based restaurant challenge? Why does that sound so familiar?" He mumbled.

"The rules are easy to follow." Don announced. "The customers will place their order and you and your team will have to cook whatever they want. There are only two ways to win. One, serve more customers than the other team or two..." he pointed to the kitchens. "...make five major mistakes. If that ends up happening, your team will be declared the losers of the challenge and will, of course, have to send someone home." Most of the competitors still weren't sure, but some seemed ready. "Now, for the teams." He pointed at each competitor he named. "Duncan, Leshawna, Zoey, Sanders and...Amy. You'll be known as the Blue Team and you'll be cooking in the kitchen to my left." And he pointed to said kitchen.

Mike immediately cringed as he realized that not only were he and Zoey on different teams again, but also that a certain Ex-Con was also on her team. Amy and Leshawna were in a glaring contest. Duncan seemed indifferent. But Sanders was clearly trying to hold back a smile.

**Confessional (Sanders): **She was still carrying her smile and shaking excitedly. "Ok, I know this might sound weird, but I'm really excited that I'm on the same team as Duncan. Now maybe we can talk, share our feelings or…" She trailed off and stopped shaking, suddenly realizing how weird she was sounding. "Oh god, what's happening to me?"

Static.

Don continued. "Now for the rest: Mike, Jo, Samey, Gwen and Noah. Henceforth, you'll be the Red team and will be cooking in the kitchen to my right."

Samey looked at the team and frowned at being separated from her friend. Jasmine, on the other hand, gave a confused look. "Wait a sec, I didn't hear my name. What gives?"

Don gave a wide grin to the Aussie. "Jasmine, I'm glad you asked. I have a very special job for you." Jasmine looked somewhat worried, but Don continued. "But before that, everyone get to your stations."

* * *

Within a few minutes, the competitors were all getting ready in their respective kitchens. They were all wearing white chef outfits, with a colored line running down the front. The color varied between the two teams. They were looking over the menus. According to them, the customers would have a choice of two appetizers and three main courses. The two apps would be either fried mozzarella sticks or bruschetta, grilled bread topped with chopped up tomatoes and other things. The main courses included spaghetti with sauce, a hamburger with fries or fish and chips. They each had instructions to make every food item.

Jasmine stood at the entrance to the door. She was wearing an all black waiters outfit, standing in front of a wooden podium. She was still unsure of what she was supposed to do. Don walked up to her.

"Jasmine." He explained. "The teams were chosen at random, and since we had an uneven number, we needed someone to do this special job." He pointed to the entrance, which already had a large gathering of people on the other side. "Pretty soon, this restaurant will be filled with hungry patrons." He looked back at Jasmine. "Your job is to send the customers to either the Red Team's side or the Blue Team's. It's entirely up to you. This means you can add more customers to one team's side, or add too many for them to handle and force them to step up their game." He chuckled at the thought. "Any questions?"

Jasmine understood her role and she nodded. But Don had one more thing to say. "Oh yeah, important detail. Whichever team wins or loses, it won't matter for you." Jasmine raised an eyebrow. Don went on. "Because your task is so simple, you will join the losing team in the elimination ceremony and you will be eligible for elimination." And he walked away.

Jasmine suddenly felt nervous.

**Confessional (Jasmine): **She seemed unsure of herself. "If I wanted to, I could cause a team to lose." She frowned. "But if I do that, I could risk getting eliminated. Maybe I should play it fair for now and not overwhelm anyone...at least, not yet."

Static

* * *

The newly formed blue team was getting everything ready. Most of them were walking around, getting familiar with the kitchen itself. Duncan was standing by himself, crossing his arms. Despite his indifferent look from earlier, he was pissed that Amy was on his team. He glared at the Twin, who was setting a frying pan on the stove top.

**Confessional (Duncan): **He still had his arms crossed, and was frowning. "Honestly, I'd be fine with losing this challenge if it means getting rid of that Cheerleading Chump. Heck, I'll even sabotage the game if I have to. I can easily get Zoey to vote for her and I don't think Leshawna would be upset to see her leave either."

Static.

As Duncan continued his glare, he suddenly felt like he was being watched. He quickly turned around. Sanders jumped at the sudden movement, equally surprising the Ex-Con.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to sneak up on you like that." She stammered.

Duncan didn't say anything at first. "N-No…I-It's fine." He stuttered. "I...shouldn't have...scared you like that."

Sanders smiled, causing Duncan to blush. He tried to hide it by turning away. But Sanders had a reason for coming up to the Ex-Con. "By the way," She said, rubbing the back of her head. "I hope we win today's challenge because…" She looked away, trying to hide her nervousness, and Duncan knew it. She looked back at him. "...I was hoping we could talk again. You're an easy person to talk to...and maybe we could talk about things like...our interests...and stuff..." She gave a tense chuckle.

Duncan froze, unsure of how to process what was happening.

**Confessional (Sanders): **She gave an annoyed sigh. "Ok, seriously. I need to work on my small talk. Especially when it's with people I probably have a crush on."

**Confessional (Duncan): **He stood in front of the camera, thinking. "Ok…" He debated. "Maybe...I won't do the whole team sabotage thing." He stood in awkward silence for a few seconds. "It...it has nothing to do with Cadet...I just…" He coughed. "I just don't think it's a good idea. That's it."

Static.

Meanwhile, the Red Team was also readying themselves. But one competitor looked noticeably eager to get the challenge started. Jo walked up to him.

"You look excited, Brain Boy." She said dully.

Noah turned around, an uncharacteristic wide smile on his face. It slightly creeped Jo out. "Absolutely." Noah answered. "I cook almost all the meals for my siblings, this is gonna be a cake walk. Even if we're not serving cake."

Jo chuckled. "Nice zinger, Head Chef." She slapped Noah hard in the back, causing him to stumble slightly. He looked back at the Jockette, and pretended to laugh with her. But Jo's laugh stopped when she looked up to the entrance. "I just hope Australian Godzilla doesn't try to screw us out of this challenge. Y'know, since _you're_ here."

Noah didn't know what to think. He remembered what happened back in Turkey and how Jasmine tried to stop him from winning the challenge. He admitted it was a smart move, but it was somewhat underhanded the way she did it. Though he wasn't about to say it. "I'm not sure…" He finally answered. Jo looked at him, shrugged and walked away, leaving Noah by himself.

* * *

Don soon announced the start of the challenge, and opened the doors. Immediately a flock of customers poured in. Jasmine was surprised by the sudden line that quickly formed in front of her. She looked down at her desk, and saw a clipboard. Thinking quickly, she took it and a pencil. Then she faced the first patrons and smiled. "Hello. If you need a table, I'd suggest taking one on the red side." The couple nodded, and did as instructed. Jasmine said the same thing for the next couple, but told them to go to the blue side. Within a few moments both sides of the restaurant were filling up and orders were being placed.

"Alright, everyone." Noah said to his teammates. "Right now we gotta focus on getting apps out. If we split up, we'll get the food done quicker." His team nodded, and Noah continued. "At some point, we're gonna have to move on to the main courses. Some of us can take care of those, but at least two of us are should stay on appetizers. Samey and Gwen, can you take care of that?" The Twin and the Goth nodded.

**Confessional (Gwen): **"I gotta admit, it's kinda cool to see Noah take on the role of a leader. He's pretty good at it too." Then her expression soured. "I just hope Jasmine doesn't try and screw him, and us, out of the challenge."

Static

The blue team wasn't having as easy a time. Duncan was cooking a batch of mozzarella sticks in the fryer. "Ok, so when do I take these out?" He asked out loud. He didn't receive an answer. He looked around, and realized that everyone was already working on a station and not paying attention. "Hey!" Duncan called , the rest of his team turned around and looked at him. "When am I supposed to take the sticks out?" He asked annoyed.

Zoey glanced over at the fryer. "Probably now." She answered.

Duncan looked back and noticed the vast amount of bubbles coming out of the fryer. He grabbed the basket handle and pulled it up. As the oil dripped over the sticks, he could see the problem. The mozzarella sticks had been overcooked and all the cheese on the inside had melted out. Duncan cringed at the sight. A loud buzzer sound rang out, and Duncan and his team looked up. A red X had appeared on one of the black screens on the wall.

"Make four more mistakes like that and your team is out." Don called from the kitchen window.

Duncan then noticed most of his team looking at him, some looked disappointed, but he also noticed Amy looking at him

**Confessional (Duncan): **He groaned. "Yeah, I know my team won the first cooking challenge back in season one, but that doesn't mean I cooked anything after that ."

Static.

* * *

The red team had just gotten most of the appetizer done with, some of them moved onto the main courses. Gwen and Samey continued working on apps, while Mike and Jo were working on the burgers and fish, leaving Noah to take care of the pasta. With Noah's guidance, they were able to get the food out to their patrons at a much faster rate.

But back on the blue side, things _still _weren't going so well. After Duncan's first mistake, Sanders ended up burning some of the bruschetta bread in the oven. She took out the tray, and sure enough, the bread was black as coal. They ended up receiving their second strike.

Leshawna looked at the rest of her team, and sighed. Then gave a more determined look. "Hey, y'all. Stop what you're doing!" She shouted. Immediately, all of her teammates froze and looked at her. "We need to have a plan." She announced and pointed at the others. "Zoey and Duncan, you work on getting those appetizers out. Sanders, you work on the pasta and...Amy, you work on the meats. I'll try to help both of you. Everyone got it?" They all nodded, though some were unsure, but went to work.

* * *

At this point, Jasmine had gotten bored of simply telling people to go to one side, and then to the other. It was getting tedious. She looked at her clipboard and realized there were still plenty of empty seats on both sides. This figured she could have some fun and make the competitors work a little harder. She watched a dozen or so people walk in and up to her.

She smiled. "I can send six people onto the blue side, and six people to the red side, if that's alright." Everyone nodded, and they headed to their respective kitchens.

Jo and Mike were working on shaping some patties for the burgers. They had mostly been focusing on the challenge, so didn't say anything to each other.

After a while, Jo looked at her teammate. "You're doing pretty good, Spikey." Mike didn't respond, but winced at his nickname. As Jo was shaping another patty, she continued. "Though I gotta admit I'm surprised you aren't distracted by your girlfriend not being on your team."

Again, Mike pretended Jo's statement didn't bother him. "I already got eliminated once," he said quietly. "Not about to let it happen again."

Jo chuckled. "That's the spirit. Let Duncan get distracted by her or something."

Mike's eyes went wide and he turned to Jo. "What? What are you talking about?"

Jo shrugged. "I don't know. They've been hanging out a lot after you left. I mean, it probably doesn't mean anything, but still." And she went back to working on the burgers.

Mike didn't say anything, but was clearly bothered by what Jo had just said.

* * *

Amy was working on the fish station, about to start the fryer. She didn't look very excited.

**Confessional (Amy): **She groaned. "Geez. We already had an eating challenge, why do we have to have a cooking one? I don't like cooking for other people. I like it when _people_ cook for _me_."

Static.

As she was waiting for the fish to fry, Amy realized someone was standing next to her. And she knew who it was too.

"I really hope you don't become a problem for me, or this challenge." Leshawna stated bluntly.

Amy tried to act like she wasn't nervous, but found herself shaking a little. Thinking quickly, she came up with a response. "Look, I know you're mad at me about getting you eliminated..."

"And for lying to me." Leshawna cut off.

This briefly caught Amy off guard. But she tried her best to continue. "But you and I are on the same team. You probably don't want to lose this challenge, and neither do I. So maybe we can put our differences aside and focus on cooking?"

Leshawna didn't say anything for a bit, which made Amy worry. "Fine," Leshawna answered. "I won't say anything more." Amy's nervousness softened, but Leshawna glared at her. "Don't think this means anything. I still don't like you. If we lose this challenge, you're getting a one way ticket out of here." And she turned and walked away.

Amy, again, tried her best to not feel intimidated, but was finding it very hard.

Meanwhile, Duncan and Zoey had been sending out appetizers at a steady rate. After Duncan's first mistake, he hadn't made any more. They just placed a few plates of mozzarella sticks and bruschetta on a serving tray. A waiter came by and took the tray. Zoey smiled proudly and looked at Duncan. He wasn't looking at her though. He was looking in another direction, almost like he was in a trance. Zoey was confused and looked where he was staring. To her surprise, the only thing she was Sanders, walking to a stove with a big pot. Zoey looked back at Duncan.

"What are you looking at?"

The Ex-Con suddenly jumped, finally realizing Zoey was there. He tried to gain his composure. "Oh...nothing." He said quickly. "I wasn't looking at anything."

Zoey looked back at the Cadet and smirked. "Were you looking at Sanders?"

"No...No, of course not." He turned and started breading a new batch of mozzarella sticks. Zoey knew he was hiding something, but didn't want to pry. She too went back to cooking.

But neither knew that Sanders could hear everything they were saying.

**Confessional (Sanders): **"Wow, he's just as bad as handling this whole thing as I am." She grabbed her arm and blushed slightly. "Is it weird that I find that kinda cute?"

Static

* * *

Samey and Gwen were working next to each other. Gwen was stirring some pasta sauce, while Samey was frying some french fries for an order of fish and chips. Neither had a word to each other. Not out of anger, they were just focusing on the challenge.

But at some point, Gwen looked up at her teammate.

**Confessional (Gwen): **"I saw how Samey reacted when she found out Leshawna was back." She shrugged. "Maybe it wouldn't hurt to try and be nice to her."

Static.

Gwen stopped stirring for a second and turned to face Samey. "Hey, Samey. You got a minute?"

Samey pulled the batch of fries out of the fryer. Gwen's sudden question startled the twin. "Oh, did I do something wrong? I'm sorry. It's just that I've never worked in a restaurant before and I…"

As she went on, Gwen was surprised by the girl's sudden outburst. She held out her hands. "Woah, woah, Samey." The Twin stopped rambling and looked at Gwen. "You're doing fine. I just wanted to say that I'm glad you and Leshawna are friends. I've known her for a while and she's the coolest person I've ever met."

Samey stared, slack jawed at Gwen's response. She shook off the initial surprise and blushed. "Oh," she finally managed, causing Gwen to giggle. "Sorry, I didn't know...I…" Finally, she came to her senses and smiled. "Thanks, I'm...happy you feel that way. Leshawna is awesome."

Gwen smiled again, and soon went back to cooking. As did Samey.

On the other side of the kitchen, Jo had just left to pick up some cheese for the burgers, leaving Mike by himself to watch them. He was waiting to flip them soon.

Problem was, a lot was playing on his mind. Jo's comment about Zoey and Duncan didn't actually mean anything, but to Mike it was very unsettling. He would do anything to see his girlfriend...which is exactly what he did.

Not thinking about the challenge, he put the spatula on the table and ran out the door, leaving the sizzling burgers unprotected.

* * *

On the Blue Team's side, Sanders and Leshawna were preparing a big pot of pasta sauce. Duncan and Zoey were finishing apps and Amy was making fries.

Sanders couldn't help but look back at Duncan. She was still thinking about what he said to Zoey. She didn't believe it, especially with how Duncan had been acting around her. But the more she dwelled on it, the more she started to doubt her assumption.

She put a pot under the sink and let the water flow into it. She then looked over to her teammate. Leshawna seemed to be enjoying herself as she plopped a few chopped tomatoes into the large pot. "This is gonna knock their socks off." She said confidently.

Sanders thought to herself.

C**onfessional (Sanders): **"Maybe it would help if I actually talked to someone about how I feel." She pondered for a bit. "But I can't just say it directly. At least not...yet."

Static.

"Hey, Leshawna."

The Sistah was just adding some chopped up garlic to the sauce. "What's up?" She said, without looking away from the pot.

Sanders had just put the, now filled with water, pot over the oven and turned on the burner. She took a deep breath and exhaled. "What do you think...about Duncan?"

Leshawna stopped and looked at the Cadet. She wasn't sure how to answer. Finally, she gave her one. "Well...Sanders is it? I'll be honest, I have no idea what you're asking."

"Just...you've known him for three seasons, what do you think of him?" Sanders asked nervously.

Again, Leshawna wasn't sure what the Cadet was getting at, but decided to just give her an answer. "Well..you're right. I've known him for a while now. I didn't always like him, but I must say, the dude's good at the game. I mean, c'mon, he's made the merge five times now." She chuckled a little, but her face frowned a few seconds later. "Though I gotta admit he lost a lot of respect from me when he cheated on Courtney in season three. Girl's crazy, but that's still pretty low, even for him." She stopped and looked at Sanders.

It took the Cadet a few moments to realize Leshawna was done talking, and wasn't sure what to say. Another awkward second passed, and Sanders figured it was best to move on. She saw the pot was now boiling, picked up a bag of raw spaghetti and tossed it into the pot. Leshawna watched, completely confused.

C**onfessional (Leshawna): **She awkwardly stared at the camera. "Ok, I have no idea what that was about." She paused and thought to herself. "Well...maybe I do, I just hope it isn't what I think it is."

Static

* * *

Duncan had just finished frying another batch of mozzarella sticks. They looked delicious and golden, but Duncan didn't seem to care. He actually looked deep in thought.

Zoey had just finished baking a fresh batch of bruschetta bread, and placed it on the top of the oven. She looked over and noticed Duncan's empty gaze. She frowned. "What's wrong?"

Duncan briefly broke his gaze and he put the mozzarella sticks in a basket to the side. He turned to his teammate. "Can I talk to you for a sec?"

Zoey gave a curious look, and took a few steps towards the Ex-Con. Neither of them noticed that the door next to them was opened slightly.

Duncan started by pointing at Zoey. "First off, don't tell anyone what I'm about to tell you, got it? You are never going to hear me say this again." Zoey nodded. The Ex-Con gave a heavy sigh and put his hands on the table. "I haven't been the same since Arizona."

Zoey crossed her arms. "When you saw Courtney and Gwen-"

"Yeah, that." Duncan interrupted, then continued. "And it's...really bothering me. Don't get me wrong, I'm glad they're both happy, but…" He looked down, closing his eyes. Zoey thought he was trying to hold back tears. She put her hand on Duncan's and held it. Duncan opened his eyes, and no tears came out. "I've spent so long thinking about Gwen, waiting for the day that I could finally fix things with her...and now that I know she isn't into me anymore, it's…" He cringed, before he spoke again. "This is the dorkiest thing I'm ever gonna say." He mumbled. "I feel this brutal emptiness inside me…" He tightened his grip on the table. "...I hate it, and I'd give anything to fill it again."

Zoey stepped back from the Ex-Con. Her eyes started to water from Duncan's revelation. "Duncan…" She stepped forward again, her arms outstretched, and wrapped her teammate in a tight hug. Duncan didn't return it and kept looking down.

The two stood in silence for a bit, not moving. But again, neither of them noticed the slightly opened door next to them. And sitting at the other side, watching them, was Mike. He had a look of absolute shock plastered on his face.

C**onfessional (Mike): **He was hyperventilating and spluttering like crazy. "He. Wants. Fill. Emptiness. Zoey. Hugging. Duncan. Duncan. Hugging. Zoey. Hugging. Holding. Hands." He continued to splutter, before grabbing his hair, leaning back and finally letting out a paranoid scream.

Static

At that moment, Mike started to push the door open, ready to catch them in the act, until he felt a tug on his collar, and he was dragged backwards.

Zoey was still hugging Duncan. Finally, the Ex-Con had enough and rolled his eyes. "Can you stop hugging me now?"

"Not until you feel better." Came the reply.

Duncan didn't say anything for a bit, then he sighed. "Ok, I'm better. I'm better." Zoey slowly released her grip, and stepped back. Her eyes were still watery, so she wiped them with her arm. Duncan looked at her. "Talking to someone about that actually did help a little, so...thanks." He gave a small smile and held out his fist.

Zoey's gave a hopeful smile back, and she happily returned the fist bump.

* * *

Mike found himself being dragged away from the door. He wasn't thinking about it though. The scene of _his girlfriend _hugging one of Total Drama's most notorious chick magnets. His thoughts were interrupted as he was shoved through a kitchen door. He quickly turned and came face to face with his dragger: an angry faced Jo.

"What is wrong with you?" She shouted.

"W-What's the problem?" Mike stammered.

Jo facepalmed. "The problem is that you thought it was a good idea to leave the kitchen and make googly eyes at your girlfriend. Also, look!" Jo pointed at the stove top.

Mike looked at it. He could see the burgers still cooking. The tops were pink. He shrugged. "I don't see the issue." Jo's eyes narrowed. She pulled out a spatula, and flipped over one of the patties. Now Mike could see the problem. The burgers were left, unflipped, on the stove top for too long. Half of the sides were still pink, but the other sides were black as hockey pucks. It was the same for the rest of the burgers as well.

Mike tried to think of an excuse, as Jo yelled at him. Two loud buzzer sounds rang out, and the two looked up. Two large red X's had appeared on the black TVs.

Jo looked down at Mike, and pointed a finger at him. "I want to keep a winning streak going, and that ain't gonna happen if you keep acting like this. Either step up, or your comeback isn't gonna amount to much, Moron Mike." And she pushed the burnt burgers into the nearby trash bin. Mike thought about what Jo had said and realized she was right.

**Confessional (Mike):** He nervously scratched the back of his head; "Geez, Jo is focused...and maybe I should be too." Then he put on a stern face. "Maybe after this, I can have a little chat with Zoey...my _girlfriend_"

Static.

* * *

As the challenge continued, more and more patrons came and went. The competitors were getting the hang of cooking and serving food. However, it was not without any mistakes. The blue team received two more strikes after Amy ended up serving undercooked fish, and Zoey's bruschetta was sent back because it was "too salty." Now they only had one strike left.

The red team, on the other hand, had been on a roll. With Noah's direction, they were keeping a steady pace and hadn't made a single major mistake since Mike's incident.

Because of that, the red team had far less patrons to serve compared to the blue team. Amy realized this and tried to think of a plan.

**Confessional (Amy): **"I can't risk losing this challenge. There's at least two votes against me with Leshawna and Jasmine, and they can probably get Zoey or Sanders to vote for me too."

Static.

Amy then heard a loud groan and she turned. Duncan was still at the mozzarella stick station. He turned around. "We're out of cheese for the sticks." He said, to no one in particular.

Suddenly, an idea struck Amy. "I'll get it." She said. Before anyone could say anything else, she had already run out. She knew where the pantry was just outside the kitchen door, but she instead went the other direction towards the entrance to their kitchen. She walked out and walked into the crowds of seated people. She had to duck and sneak around them, so her team didn't see what she was doing. It worked, and she was exactly where she wanted to be: at the front of the restaurant. She hid behind the small wall, and peered out.

Jasmine was still at her podium, looking slightly disinterested. Amy saw the clipboard, and quickly came up with something. But she knew she couldn't stand there for too long. She needed to act quickly.

At that moment, Jasmine looked up. She could see an old man, struggling to open the door. "Hold on." she said, and left her podium to help.

Without wasting a second, Amy jumped to the podium and looked at the clipboard. She then took the pencil and started erasing some of the tallies, on the red team's side, that Jasmine had been taking. Then, like a snake, she put the clipboard back, ran behind the wall and then back to the kitchen.

Jasmine returned to her podium and picked up her board. "Now let's see where we can…" She trailed off, giving a confused look at her board. _I could've sworn the red team had more- _her thoughts were cut off.

"Excuse me?"

Jasmine looked up. Standing next to the old man, was a smartly dressed woman, with a monocle and a giant fur coat. She also had a very snobby voice. "I was to believe we would be seated immediately." She flounced. "And, as far as I'm concerned, your definition of immediately is rather slow. Are you serving snails on the menu? Is that why it's so slow?"

Jasmine froze. She was still thinking about her clipboard, but the strange woman threw her out of whack. She also noticed another line, forming behind the woman. With too much going on, Jasmine made her choice "I'm sorry," she said to the woman. "I...if you're looking for a seat, you should be able to find one on the red side." She then looked at the other groups of people. "In fact, I think the rest of you can also go there as well.."

The woman, followed by the old man, then the other patrons headed into the red team's side. Jasmine smiled and made some more tallies, unaware of anything going on.

Amy returned to her kitchen, with a brick of mozzarella and a big smile on her face. As she walked towards Duncan, Leshawna noticed the smirk. "What are you smiling at?" she questioned.

Amy held her grin. "Oh, nothing...I'm just feeling pretty good about our chances of winning." And she headed back to her station. Leshawna watched her, being more confused than mad.

* * *

Noah looked at his team's order tickets. They only had a few left and with the pace they were moving, he was certain they could win. Just then, Jo came by, placing a plate of fish and chips on the front table. She smirked. "I gotta say, this cooking thing isn't as hard as I thought it would be. But yet again, I'm good at everything." She then looked at Noah. "Gotta admit, you're pretty good at this game, Brainiac." And punched him in the arm. She didn't mean any harm, but Noah was clearly wincing from the pain.

He held it back, and smiled. "Thanks." Then he thought of something. "Though I swear I've seen something like this on TV. Like, a show where two teams cook in a restaurant. They get punished for making mistakes. I think it's called…"

He stopped, noticing Jo wasn't looking at him. She was looking towards the front of the restaurant. "What the…" She whispered.

Noah looked where she was looking and went bug eyed. At least a dozen patrons were entering their side of the restaurant. Then Noah realized it was way more than a dozen. Within moments, they were taking their seats. Pretty quickly, they had filled almost every table of their side, with more still coming. Soon after that, orders were being taken.

The rest of Noah's team had stopped what they were doing to see the large amount of customers pour in.

"What is she doing?" Jo shrieked, grabbing her hair.

"I have no idea." Noah said. "Someone stop her."

"I'll go." Samey quickly answered, already heading out the door.

Jo looked at Noah. "I _knew_ she would do something like this."

Noah didn't have a response.

* * *

Samey ran to the front of the restaurant, to see Jasmine still casually sending patrons to the red side.

"Jasmine?!" Samey shouted.

The Aussie turned, slightly confused by the presence of her friend. "What's up, Sam?"

"D-Do you not realize what you're doing?" Samey asked, slightly gobsmacked by Jasmine's casualness.

The Aussie raised an eyebrow. "What are you talking about?"

Samey pointed to her side. Jasmine, still confused, walked to where Samey was pointing. When she finally saw what was going on, she went wide eyed. "Wait. How did- But I-"

Samey was surprised. "You didn't know how many people were on our side?"

"I thought I did…" Jasmine said, still shocked. Then she thought of another plan. "I'll take some of your customers and send them to the blue team's side."

"No can do." Don cut off, suddenly appearing next to the Aussie. "Once a customer has been seated, you can't do anything about it."

Jasmine felt guilty over what she had done, and looked at Samey. The Twin felt bad for leaving her friend in an awkward predicament, but knew she had to head back to the kitchen. Which is exactly what she did.

Jo, from her window, gritted her teeth. "She's gonna pay for this…"

* * *

Now that the red team had a boatload of new customers, the Blue Team had a much easier time getting through their orders. Leshawna just poured some tomato sauce over a hot plate of spaghetti. She smiled proudly. Sanders was preparing a new batch of spaghetti in a boiling pot. As she stirred, she looked over at Leshawna and thought of something.

C**onfessional (Sanders): **She gave a heavy sigh. "I can't hold it back anymore. I need to actually talk to someone about how I feel." She stopped and considered it for a second. "Yet again, how well are people gonna take the idea of a police cadet having a crush on an ex-convict...no, I need to do this. Besides, Leshawna's pretty trustworthy."

Static

Taking another deep breath, Sanders looked over at Leshawna. "Leshawna, can I talk to you again?" The Sistah had just placed the plate of pasta on the counter. She looked at Sanders and nodded. The Cadet took a few moments to think about what she would say, and inhaled. "There's a reason I asked you about Duncan earlier…" She could see Leshawna cringe slightly, but she continued. "I...I think I might actually...like him. Like, _like _him."

Leshawna froze for a second, clearly processing what was just said.

C**onfessional (Leshawna): **She slapped her hand on her forehead. "Dang...that was my second guess. The first was that I figured Duncan had a warrant and Sanders was brought onto the show to bring him in."

Static.

"Does he...like you back?" Leshawna asked, unsure of what else to say.

Sanders was surprised by the question. She was certain Leshawna would ask more, so didn't know what to say. Finally she found her answer. "I-I think so. I mean, we've had a few talks before and he definitely feels...something for me." She held her arm and looked down. Leshawna gave a look of sympathy and stepped forward.

"Listen, girl." Leshawna started, putting a hand to the Cadet's shoulder. "I'm not sure what's going on with you and that Ex-Con, but I should warn you. That guy has gotten himself into so much trouble with relationships. He could very well just be playing with you for the attention." Sanders' face frowned upon hearing this. Leshawna realized she may not have said the right thing, and continued, putting her hand down. "But yet again. That dude has surprised me before. Jail changes people. Sometimes for the better, sometimes for the worse. And he's stubborn as heck. He might like you back, and just doesn't want to admit it. So maybe you do have a chance. Just do yourself and keep an eye on him." She finished with a small smile.

That last bit of advice made Sanders feel a little better. Leshawna could see she was happy and went back to working at her station. Sanders was about to return to hers, when she saw her aforementioned teammate.

Duncan and Zoey were about to send out another batch of appetizers. A waiter came and took the waiting food away. Zoey went back to chopping up a few tomatoes, while Duncan leaned against the table, wiping his brow.

"Oh, man." He sighed. "I have an all new respect to the people that made my food. Except Chef, he still stinks."

Zoey chuckled as she tossed her chopped up tomato into a bowl. "At least we're still in the game." She looked at the black boxes. "Though if we make one more mistake, we'll lose the challenge."

"That wouldn't be so bad…" Duncan mumbled to himself.

Zoey heard him and was about to ask, when an almighty crash rang out, surprising both of them.

* * *

The crash ended up coming from Jo. She had been carrying some clean plates around for next orders. But she was in too much of a rush, and she ended up dropping all of them on the floor. Noah cringed at the sight, especially when he heard a buzzer sound, giving them their third strike. But he knew they weren't done yet.

"Jo," he ordered. "Clean up those dishes." Then he turned to the rest of his team. "The rest of us will get the appetizers out. That way we can get back to the pace we were earlier."

His team nodded, though they weren't sure. Quickly, they got to work, and were able to serve the new patrons. However, in the process of getting food to the new customers, they had neglected the patrons that were already waiting for their main courses. It ended up taking too long, and the red team got yet another strike.

Now Noah was nervous. They only had room for one strike left and a lot of patrons to get through. "Guys, we gotta get through this. We had such a big lead, and we can't lose it now. We're just gonna have to do as much as we can and hope that the other team-"

At that moment, a loud buzzer sound went off. Noah and his team looked up at their black boxes, hoping for the best. Much to their dismay, their box now had a fifth X, which meant one thing.

"Noah, my man." Don announced from the front. "That was a nice speech, but I think it might've been a better idea to pay attention to your food, otherwise, you may have prevented that grease fire over there."

Noah turned, now seeing a panicked Mike holding a frying pan that had a large blazing fire in the middle of it. He groaned in defeat.

Don announced the winning team being the blue team, who all sighed in relief at finally being done with the challenge. Sanders was noticeably happier than everyone else. Jasmine watched from her podium, realizing the trouble she was in, especially with Jo staring daggers at her.

"Alright, everyone, let's head out." Don started walking out of the restaurant. The seated patrons watched him leave, wondering what that meant for them.

"Excuse me," the snobby woman from earlier got up from her chair. "We were all promised a meal and I don't think this is good business, quite frankly. You're just gonna leave all of us? While we're still hungry?"

Don thought for a moment, then snapped his fingers. "I'll be right back." And he left the building. After a few minutes, he re-entered, with Chef and half a dozen interns in tow. The Host walked up in front of the patrons. "Ladies and gentlemen, I have good news. This humble chef and his colleagues have graciously volunteered to cook the rest of your food."

Chef Hatchet went wide eyed, as did the interns. "What?! What are you talking about?!"

Don just grinned. "C'mon, Chef, you don't want to disappoint all these lovely patrons, do you?"

Chef looked up and saw all the glaring eyes that were now on him. He gulped, realizing his predicament.

* * *

Later, back on the plane, Jasmine and Samey had changed out of their restaurant outfits, and were back in their regular clothes. Needless to say, neither of them were in high spirits.

"So what exactly happened?" Samey asked.

Jasmine sighed. "I have no idea. I thought I had everything under control." She looked up at her friend. "You know I'd never try to sabotage you, right?"

"Of course you wouldn't." Samey replied, then frowned. "But now what are we gonna do? Jo's really mad at you…"

"And so is Gwen, probably." Jasmine mumbled.

The two sat in silence, trying to think of something. Eventually, Samey spoke. "What if we talked to Noah? He probably still wants to help you."

Jasmine cringed at the mention. She thought about it for a moment, and sighed. "To be honest, Sammy, after what I did back in Turkey, I don't think I can. It wouldn't feel right."

Samey looked upset, but remembered something. "Oh...I forgot..." Jasmine looked up. "Noah...Noah spoke to me before we landed in Turkey. He wanted me to tell you how he wanted to say he was sorry. He wanted my help and…" She didn't bother finishing. She could tell her friend was thinking about what that meant.

* * *

"You _can't _vote for Mike."

Duncan had just snuck to the loser class to talk to one of the two other remaining male competitors. Noah stared at him, mouth agape. "Wait, why not? He's just as responsible for my team losing today. And why do you care anyways?"

Duncan shot a finger at the Brainiac. "I need him so the three of us can vote off that stupid cheerleader chick."

Noah backed up slightly. "So who am I supposed to vote for?"

Duncan put his hand down. "I don't know and I don't care...why not just vote off the Aussie-"

"No." Came the blunt reply. Duncan stepped back slightly, surprised by Noah's defiance. "I'm not voting her off, no matter what. Beat me up, stuff me in the toilet, I don't care." He narrowed his eyes. "I'm _not _voting for Jasmine."

Duncan was still processing what was going on. Defensively, he raised his hands slightly. "Fine. You don't have to vote for her." He said calmly. "Just don't vote for Mike. If he goes, we're screwed. "

Noah didn't say anything for a bit, he looked away from Duncan and sighed. "Alright." He looked back, frowning. "I won't vote for Mike. But I'm letting you know I'm not happy about this."

Duncan exhaled. "Yeah, I'm not happy about what I had to do either."

Noah raised an eyebrow. "You mean Dawn? Were you actually friends with her?"

Duncan gave a cold glare back at the Brainiac. "I want that Cheerleader out of the game…"

Noah was surprised, and took a step back. Duncan's mean look gave him his answer. The Ex-Con grunted, turned and walked back to first class, leaving Noah to think about what he would do.

* * *

At the elimination ceremony, the red team had all gathered. Jo was noticeably more angry than usual, Noah wasn't looking very comfortable and Samey, Jasmine and Mike all looked nervous. Gwen was also looking bitter.

**Confessional (Gwen): **She sighed, annoyed. "I don't get it. I was a finalist in season one and I made the final four in All-Stars. How is it that I lost both team challenges? I gotta step it up in the next game. Like, seriously."

Static

Don walked up, standing next to a very exhausted Chef. He was carrying a plate of barf bags filled with peanuts. "After today, we'll only have ten competitors left. Five of you will be safe, but one of you will not." The competitors eyed each other. Don tossed the first three bags. "Gwen, Jo and Samey, all three of you are moving on." They all caught their bags, but Samey looked noticeably worried. Don gave a confused look at the next competitor. "Noah." The Brainiac looked up. "I don't exactly understand the need to vote for yourself, especially since it didn't work." He tossed the bag, which Noah caught.

Jasmine realized what that meant and looked back at Noah. She hadn't expected him to do anything like that. Had he done it, in an attempt to save her?

She looked back at Don, and awaited the final result. Mike was equally as nervous. Don looked back at them. "Jasmine, I don't know what happened, but if this team has anyone to blame for their loss today, it's you." Jasmine sighed, then Don turned to Mike. "And you, Mike. I have no idea what's going on with ya. You were responsible for three of your team's strikes, so you're also partly to blame for losing the challenge."

Mike's stomach churned as he awaited his possible fate. Jasmine was so nervous she was shaking. Don picked up the last bag. "The last bag goes to…

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...Mike."

The spiky haired competitors sighed in relief as he caught his bag. But he regretted it almost immediately. Jasmine sat in stunned silence. Samey was on the verge of tears. Jo and Gwen weren't as caring. With a heavy sigh, Jasmine stood up and turned around. "Good luck, Sam." And she hugged her friend, who was bawling at this point. Then she turned and walked sadly towards the open door.

"Wait."

Jasmine turned and saw Noah standing up. He had a black box in his hand. "Jasmine...I owe you something." And he walked towards Don.

Jasmine sighed. "Look, Noah. I'm sorry for what I did back in-"

"Hold that thought." Noah interrupted, with a grin on his face. "Ready, Don?"

The Host gave a thumbs up and pushed a button on a remote. A TV screen lowered down in front of them. Jasmine was confused by it, until the picture appeared.

"When I look out at all of you…"

Jasmine's jaw nearly hit the floor. There on the screen was herself, dressed in her war outfit from the scene challenge. The same performance that she was so proud of. The same that everyone praised her for. The one that Noah had accidentally dropped in the fire. There it was.

Once the performance finished, the screen went black. Noah put the DVD back in its case and walked up to Jasmine, who was still trying to comprehend everything.

"Wha- How-"

Noah proudly handed her the DVD. "Don let me go in the editing studio. I found the footage and...well, I think you know." He smiled.

Jasmine didn't take the box immediately. She just stood in place for a few seconds. Suddenly, she wrapped Noah in a tight hug. The Brainiac winced, as he felt a bone make a violent snapping sound. Jasmine soon released it, ecstatic, and took the DVD.

"I don't have the words." She exclaimed, tears forming in her eyes. "Thank you." She gave a more awkward look. "I just wish it was under better circumstances, though."

Noah chuckled. "Same here. Hopefully, we can meet again, if that's alright."

Jasmine beamed. "Of course. I still have to introduce Owen to Shawn."

Noah smiled and held out his hand. Jasmine smirked too, and held her hand out too. The two gave a hearty handshake, finally erasing the bad blood between them. They released, and Jasmine looked forward. She waved goodbye to Samey, grabbed the nearby parachute and jumped out. Once the door closed, Noah sighed loudly and collapsed onto the floor.

Don walked up to him. "Noah, how are you feeling?"

The Brainiac laughed. "Pretty good, Don. Pretty good."

The Host smirked and looked at the camera. "Well, that ends that. Noah and Jasmine are finally on good terms. The final ten are set. Who's gonna make it to the end? Honestly, Noah's made it this far, I've got my money on him." He smirked. "And, for pete's sake, who's gonna tell Duncan and Sanders to just admit what we already know?"

"Wait, what?" Gwen asked.

Don ignored her. "Find out on the next episode of Total...Drama...L...egends! I am crushing these outros!"

* * *

**Wow. This was a fun chapter to write. I did something a little different in my writing process which made it so much easier to get through. I'm sorry I uploaded this a day late. I intended to upload it Friday, but some things came up and I didn't have time to finish it. As for Jasmine, I think it was a good time to send her off. Her storyline with Noah has finally ended. Please let me know what you thought of it. Not just this, but the entire storyline between them. I have no idea when the next chapter will come out, but I'll try to get it out sooner rather than later. I'll keep you guys updated. **

**Oh, and for anyone that didn't figure it out, the challenge is based off of Hell's Kitchen, my favorite reality TV show. **

**Say it with me: Peace be with ya.**

* * *

Merge: Amy, Duncan, Gwen, Jo, Leshawna, Mike, Noah, Samey, Sanders and Zoey

Blue Team: Duncan, Sanders, Amy, Leshawna, Zoey

Red Team: Mike, Noah, Jo, Samey, Gwen

Waitress: Jasmine

Placement:

22nd: Sierra

21st: Lightning

20th: Tyler

19th: Cody

18th: Heather

17th: Alejandro

16th: Owen

15th: Macarthur

14th: Scott

13th: Courtney

12th: Dawn

11th: Jasmine

Votes:

Jasmine: Gwen, Mike, Jo

Mike: Jasmine, Samey

Noah: Noah


	17. The Fast and the Ridonculous

**Thank you for the reviews from the last chapter. Remember to leave a one for this chapter, once you're done reading it. **

**Oh, and Happy Halloween!**

* * *

**I was gonna upload this chapter on Friday, but something came up. (*cough Mandelorian *cough). But I didn't think it would matter that much. Anyways I hope everyone enjoys the latest chapter. **

**KirbyStar: Glad you enjoyed it. I'm glad you liked the end to the redemption arc. The entire storyline was a lot of fun to write **

**DSX62415: You actually gave me a few ideas on that. Kudos. **

**WhatTheHeck23: Thank you for the review, as well as all the other reviews you left for my series. **

**MatiasND aka 'a: I guess that's a way of looking at it.**

**Lillaptop (Ch 2.): I figured you probably won't read this until much later, but welcome to my series. Hope you enjoy the rest of the chapters. **

**Infinity Wizard: Love to read your reviews, as always.**

* * *

The McPlane lowered its landing gear as it headed to its next destination. The new host, Don cleared his throat as he was about to start the recap. "Last time on Total Drama Legends. Our challenge brought us to Spain and the competitors were tasked with running a restaurant. Thankfully, no one ran it into the ground. Some struggled at first (Duncan, Sanders and Mike), while others stepped up and helped motivate their teams (Noah and Leshawna). Duncan admitted a huge secret to Zoey, while Mike's suspicions of the two only grew. Jasmine had the unique role of playing on neither team. However she was still up for elimination, and Amy took full advantage of that, and spearheaded the Australian's eventual downfall. However before she left, the Aussie was able to bury the hatchet with her new friend, Noah. Good on them."

The camera flashed, and Don was revealed to be sitting in the cockpit of the McPlane, next to Chef. "So this is where Chris used to sit, right?" He asked Chef. He only got a low growl as a response. Don smirked and looked back at the camera. "Ten remain, but one will fall behind. Be left in the dust. Dropped at the curb. Abandoned and-"

"Would you shut it?!" Chef snapped.

Don remained unphased. "Ah, banter. I like it, Chef. But let's save that for later because this is an all new episode of...Total...Drama...Legends! How am I doing, Chefy?"

"I said SHUT IT!"

* * *

The members of the Red Team, from the last challenge, were trying their hardest to not feel like losers...in the Loser Class. However, one member was perfectly content where he was.

"What's got you so happy?" Jo questioned.

Noah just smiled. "I'm on a high right now. And it's the best I've ever felt in weeks."

Jo raised an eyebrow. "Oh, I didn't think you were the type of person who did stuff like that, but whatever."

Noah gave a dull look and was about to explain when…

"He means he's in a good mood." Gwen interrupted, sitting across from the two. "Probably about getting in good with Jasmine, am I right?" Noah nodded. Gwen seemed unsure. "To be honest, I don't get it. She took advantage of you in Turkey and screwed our team in the last challenge."

Jo grumbled, having to be reminded of what happened in Spain.

Noah shook it off. "Look, I get what you mean. But I don't care. I set out to redeem myself and I feel like I did. I can now go to sleep with a clean conscience." He leaned back on the bench and put his hands behind his head, just for emphasis.

Gwen looked at him. Even though she didn't understand it, she felt happy that her friend had redeemed himself in his own eyes. _Wow. _She thought _I just considered Noah my friend. This is a weird season. _

Her thoughts were interrupted when she heard a door close. Gwen turned, and saw her new friend, Samey, having just walked out of the lavatory. Needless to say, she didn't share the same enthusiasm that Noah did. She was hugging herself, and looked miserable. Gwen gave a look of pity.

"How ya holding up, Samey?" She asked.

The Twin sighed. "Not great. It was already upsetting enough that I never got to say goodbye to Dawn, but now I actually had to see my closest friend get eliminated." She sat down, next to Gwen, with her palms pressed against her cheeks. "I don't know what to do now that they're both gone."

Gwen felt bad for her new friend. Even though she didn't exactly like Jasmine, she could see how much it was affecting Samey. She didn't say anything, and gave a comforting pat on the Twin's back.

* * *

Speaking of Twin, Amy was feeling very happy with herself. She was not only the cause of two eliminations in a row, but they were both friends of Samey's.

**Confessional (Amy): **She had a devilish grin. "This...has been amazing. First Dawn, now Jasmine." She cackled. "My sister must be miserable right now. My only regret, so far, is that I haven't been able to see her stupid face."

Static.

Sanders didn't have the same feelings as her teammate did. She was sitting by herself, in one of the lounge chairs. She looked at the bar. Duncan and Zoey were sitting on the stools chatting. She frowned.

**Confessional (Sanders): **She was still frowning. "Since we got on the plane, Duncan hasn't said a word to me. In fact, I'm pretty sure he's been purposefully avoiding me." She sighed. "I still want to talk with him, but I also don't want to force anything."

Static

* * *

Meanwhile, Mike was sitting away from the rest of his old teammates. He hadn't bothered talking to anyone, as a lot was on his mind. He was sitting near the entrance to first class, in hopes of hearing something, or his girlfriend walking out from the curtain. Knowing who she was with was also not helping his situation. Needless to say, his imagination was getting the better of him.

**Confessional (Mike): **He sighed. "What am I supposed to do? No way Zoey would cheat on me...I don't think. But how am I supposed to ask her?" He started mimicking talking to Zoey. "Oh hey Zoey. Quick question. Are you, by any chance dating Duncan? No? Oh, ok. What? You think that's a really insensitive question and you want to break up?" Mike paused, as if he was really having the conversation. "Wait, Zoey I- No. Please don't leave. I promise I'll change." He ran out the door. "I promise I'll chaaaange."

Static

Samey was still sitting on the bench, her arms wrapped around her knees. Like Mike, a lot was running through her head. She had a strong feeling Amy was responsible for Dawn's elimination and, even though she didn't know how, she felt her sister had something to do with Jasmine's elimination as well. She sighed.

Samey looked over at her new friend. She could see her look of concern. In that moment, with Dawn and Jasmine still on her mind, she made a decision.

"Gwen," Samey said quietly. "I'm really happy I got the chance to meet you but...I don't think I can hang around with you anymore."

Gwen looked confused. "What are you talking about?"

Samey gave a heavy sigh. "I can't get into it, right now, but I don't want you to get eliminated because of me." She stood up.

"Wait, but-" Gwen was about to retort, but Samey was already walking away. Gwen wanted to help, but had no idea where to start.

* * *

Duncan and Zoey were still sitting at the bar. Zoey had a paper triangle, while Duncan held up his hands, with his thumbs touching and both of his index fingers pointed up. "Alright, just concentrate and try to get it between my fingers." he said.

Zoey aimed her paper football, and used her other hand to flick it. It...went completely off course and landed on the floor nearby. Duncan laughed. "So the score is now...fifteen...to nothing, am I right?"

Zoey smirked. "Hey, I'm getting better."

The Ex-Con rolled his eyes, and smirked. He went over to pick up the paper football.

**Confessional (Zoey): **"I figured it would be a good idea to take Duncan's mind off of Dawn's elimination, so I asked him to teach me to play paper football. It's fun...even if I'm not good at it. But as long as Duncan's happy, I don't really care."

Static.

As Duncan picked up the paper, Zoey suddenly realized he was being watched. From the lounge chairs, Zoey noticed Sanders, staring at the Ex-Con. When she saw Zoey looking at her, she turned away. Zoey frowned.

"Ready to go again?" Duncan sat back in his seat.

Zoey looked back. "Uh...yeah." She held her hands out, like Duncan did before. "Can I ask you something?"

"Shoot." Duncan said, not looking up.

Zoey thought for a second. Though she couldn't be sure what was going on, she had noticed how weirdly Duncan had been acting around the Cadet. But she knew asking about it wouldn't get her anything. So she had to get the answer from him, in a different way. "What are you gonna do now that Gwen isn't...available?"

Duncan froze, clearly thinking about the question. He sighed. "I don't know. Hopefully, I'll just get over it at some point." He went back to aiming the football.

Now Zoey put her plan in action. "Well...what about someone else, on the show? Like... Leshawna?"

Duncan glanced up at her, slightly weirded out. "Leshawna's fine, but I'd sooner go out with Chef, before I dated her."

Zoey continued. "Jo?"

The Ex-Con scoffed. "Not with a ten foot pole."

"Samey?"

"She looks exactly like the person who's on the top of my hate list. No way." He was about to flick the football.

Zoey paused for a second, before giving off a weird look. "What about...me?"

Duncan completely missed flicking the paper. He looked back at his friend. "What?"

Zoey looked embarrassed. "I...I was curious. I figured you'd say no anyways."

Duncan groaned. "Look, you're nice and all but...one, you've got a boyfriend. And two...I see you more as an annoying sister...which _totally_ doesn't sound weird now that I'm saying it outloud." He mumbled that last part to himself.

Zoey thought again for a moment. "Sanders?"

Duncan completely froze. Then he looked up at Zoey, who was nervously smiling. He didn't say anything, and just continued to stare. After a few more seconds, he exhaled, stood up and walked away.

Zoey watched him, debating if she did the right thing.

* * *

The plane soon landed near familiar territory. A quick flash of the camera, and the competitors had arrived. Don spread his arms out and introduced the place.

"Welcome back to Total...Drama...Action!" He exclaimed.

The competitors looked around the abandoned film lot with dull expressions, though Leshawna was noticeably surprised.

**Confessional (Leshawna): **"Man, we came back _here_?" She looked around the confessional, and frowned. "Not a lot of happy memories. Everyone being mad at me for fake crying, Duncan convincing Harold to eliminate me and…" she shuddered. "...being friends with Heather."

Static.

As Don walked the competitors towards their challenge, Leshawna went to find her friend. Samey had her arms crossed, and she still looked very downcast. Leshawna soon found her.

"Hey, girl. How ya doing?" She smiled. Samey didn't respond, or even acknowledge her friend. Leshawna noticed, and looked around. She noticed the lack of a certain tall competitor, one that Samey had eagerly introduced her to. The Sistah looked down at her friend. "I'm sorry, Sammy." She put a comforting arm around the Twin's shoulder.

While Samey appreciated it, she also remembered what she said to Gwen early. She immediately stood up straight, pushed Leshawna's arm off and feigned a smile. "It's ok, Leshawna. I'll be fine." She then picked up her walking speed and made some distance between herself and Leshawna. Leshawna watched, puzzled by what just happened.

Zoey was also looking for someone in the crowd. She perked up once she saw her boyfriend. "Hey Mike." she said once she walked up to him.

But the spiky-haired competitor didn't answer. In fact, he was just staring directly forward.

Zoey was confused. "Mike? What are you-"

At that moment, Mike snapped back into reality and looked at Zoey. "Oh, hey Zoe. How's it going?" He gave a nervous chuckle. "Been missing me?"

Zoey gave an odd look. "Y-Yeah. Of course, I have, but...are you alright?"

Mike kept his fake smile. "I'm fine. I'm fine. How's...How are you and Duncan getting along?"

The Indie Chick raised an eyebrow, trying to think of a response. "Um...We've been good, I guess. Why do you ask?"

"Oh, no reason." He looked forward again. "No reason at all."

Zoey was puzzled by her boyfriend's behavior, but didn't know what else to say. Mike, on the other hand, still wasn't sure how to feel about his situation.

* * *

Don soon stopped and turned around to face the competitors. "Now for today's challenge, we're going with a popular genre of film. One that centers around fast cars, intense action and, most importantly...family. It's the racing movie challenge!" He held his arms out for dramatic effect.

The competitors looked behind the host, and noticed a figure eight made of wood. Next to them was a set of eight go-karts. Don noticed the stares and went on. "This is the track you'll be competing on. This will be a tournament style race, with two people competing each round." The competitors were intrigued, except for Noah.

**Confessional (Noah): **He groaned. "I hate those types of movies. They're nothing more than excuses for people to show off their model bodies and car collections. But as long as you create a contrived message about family, you can get away with it." He said that last part sarcastically.

Static.

Don continued. "Now there are ten of you here, but we need eight of you to compete." He eyed the competitors. "The winners of the last challenge are already in. Four members of the losing team will have qualifying races to fill in the last two spots. The winner of the entire tournament will be immune from tonight's elimination...and get a special prize afterwards." The competitors now looked motivated if it meant winning a prize.

As Don pointed at the competitors for the first race. Sanders looked over. Since she had already qualified, she figured it was a good time to try and talk with a certain competitor.

The Ex-Con sat dully at the sidelines, but when he saw the Cadet heading towards him, he started to panic.

**Confessional (Duncan): **"Ok, I'll admit it. That Cadet is...alright. She's not the worst cop I've ever met. But that doesn't mean I'm about to tell her that I…" He froze, thinking what he was about to say. "That I..._don't hate her." _

Static.

Thinking quickly, the Ex-Con looked for a getaway. The closest one he could find was in the form of Zoey. He ran over to her, and pretended like he was going to talk with her. Thankfully for him, this worked, and Sanders stopped, disappointed.

However, Mike had also been watching the two. He cringed at the sight. Though he didn't see anything wrong with them talking, his mind was already creating possible scenarios. None of them he liked.

* * *

Even though he wasn't in a good state of mind, Mike had to compete in the first qualifying race. His opponent would be Samey. The cheerleader sat in the go-kart, trying to focus on the race. They were in the middle of the track, behind a white line. Don stepped in front of them. "This race will be two laps and the winner will move on to the quarterfinals." He raised his hands, signaling that they would start. Samey readied herself, while Mike looked distracted.

"3...2...1...Go!"

Samey quickly stepped on the pedal and took off. Mike broke from his trance and followed suit. As Samey entered the first turn, Leshawna cheered her on. Zoey cheered for Mike as he passed. This made Mike feel a little better.

He got side-by-side with his opponent. They both finished the first lap at the same time.

**Confessional (Mike): **"I guess it helps that I got to keep Vito's knowledge of cars. He loved to race."

Static.

As they entered the first turn again, Mike looked up. He could see the competitors watching him still. He saw Duncan and Zoey standing next to each other. They weren't doing anything, but to Mike, it broke his concentration. His bad thoughts came back and he started to veer off course. He didn't see that Samey was still next to him. He ended up hitting her go-kart in the side. She was caught off guard, and tried to regain control. It didn't work. Samey shrieked as she was pushed towards the inside line. Her kart swerved and tipped over. Thankfully she had a seatbelt on, and didn't go flying out.

The rest of the competitors watched in shock, with the exception of Amy, who was laughing.

Mike remembered what he was doing and continued racing. He didn't see what he had just done. As he neared the finish line, he could finally see everyone's shocked faces, then he saw Samey's tipped over kart. He soon realized what he had done. But it didn't matter because he crossed the finish line.

"Well…" Don announced "I never said that bumping was illegal, so…" He shrugged. "Congrats, Mike. You've qualified"

The Spikey-Haired competitor parked his kart. He had a noticeable look of guilt on his face. Leshawna and Gwen ran over to check on Samey. Zoey went to Mike. She looked worried.

"Mike, what was that?" she asked.

_I was distracted by the thought of you cheating on me with Duncan. _He said in his head. He tried desperately to think of a response . But nothing came to mind. He sighed, took off his helmet and walked off. Zoey watched, confused by her boyfriend's behavior.

* * *

Once Samey and Mike joined the other competitors, Don announced the competitors of the second qualifying race. It was going to be Jo racing against Noah. Needless to say, Jo was feeling confident.

**Confessional (Jo): **"So the last time I was in a go-kart, I…" She rubbed the back of her head. "I wasn't very good at it. Stupid driver's ed." She grinned again. "But this time, it's gonna be different. I'm gonna crush everyone in this race."

**Confessional (Noah): **He stared dully at the camera. "Has my opinion on racing movies changed in the last hour? Nope." He shrugged. "To be honest, I'm probably gonna lose this challenge anyways. If that loud mouth wants to win this race, she can have it."

Static.

Don did his countdown and the race started. Both started at the same time, but Jo quickly took the lead. Noah didn't seem to care and didn't bother pressing harder on the pedal. He was driving well, but not very quickly. Jo easily took the first lap, while the Brainiac trailed behind. Before long, Jo finished the second, and last, lap. She hit the brakes and stood up.

Don looked weirdly at the two. "Uh, well...that was...underwhelming." He quickly perked up. "But now we have all eight racers set up. And to make things a little interesting…" He pointed at the go-karts. The Interns were attaching a small grey box, next to the wheel. The box had four buttons on them. Don explained. "For these races, everyone will have a special ability that can be accessed through this box. Push the buttons and you'll get a surprise that might help you."

"And what kind of abilities will we get?" Sanders asked.

Don smirked. "You'll just have to find out." He continued explaining. "Everyone will start off with one ability. For every race that you win, you'll gain your opponents ability. The more races you win, the more abilities you'll have. Everyone got it?" The competitors nodded. Don clapped his hands together. "Alrighty then, let's get to it!"

As the competitors headed to their places, Chef grumbled, looking down. "That was Chris' line…" He mumbled.

* * *

The first race would be Gwen vs Mike. As the Spiky-haired competitor put on his helmet, he couldn't help but notice the cold glare he was getting from the Goth.

"Don't even try pulling that stunt on me." She declared. She sat in her kart, ready to start.

Mike didn't say anything. He still felt guilty about what he did to Samey, but knew he had to focus. He sat down and waited for Don's signal.

"3...2...1...Go!"

The two took off into the first turn. They were neck and neck, but Gwen was slowly gaining a lead. Mike quickly remembered that he had an ability and looked at his grey box. He pressed the first button. He heard a noise, and noticed that his hubcaps had turned into spikes. He looked at Gwen's kart. If he wanted to, he could get alongside Gwen and pop her tires. He started inching closer to her.

Gwen turned and saw Mike's wheels. She quickly realized the trouble she would be in and pulled in front of Mike, so he couldn't get ahead. Thinking that wouldn't be enough, Gwen decided to press her button. She heard a loud noise from behind her, and her kart was thrusted forward. She didn't have enough time to react, and hit the retaining wall. Mike quickly drove past.

He grinned to himself, thinking he had it in the bag. As he finished the first lap, he looked up. He could see the competitors watching him. But his smile soon fell, when he saw Zoey. This time, instead of cheering him, the Indie Chick looked upset. Mike was reminded how Zoey reacted to what happened in his race, and how he-

Mike's thoughts were immediately cut off, when he hit something. He wasn't paying attention and had hit the wall. He took a few seconds to compose himself, and he reversed. Gwen was narrowly able to avoid hitting him, and she sped by. When she entered the brief straightaway, she used her ability again. She was rocketed forward, but was easily able to control herself. Mike tried to follow, but was too far behind. He could do nothing as Gwen crossed the finish line.

"And the winner of the first match is Gwen!" Don announced. The Goth got out and yelled in excitement. She was met with high-fives from Zoey and Leshawna. Samey didn't do anything, but still smiled. Mike soon got out of his kart, and watched on.

* * *

Soon, the next race was ready to begin. Don held a card, which he looked at. "Alright competitors, Gwen has advanced to the semi-finals, and whoever wins this next one will join her." He paused, letting the competitors get excited. He took another look at his card. "So for this next race, it will be Duncan...going against...Sanders."

This was met with immediate surprise, most notably from the two racers. They looked at each other, both unsure of what to say.

"This should be good." Don rubbed his hands together.

**Confessional (Duncan): **He gave a heavy sigh. "Dang it."

**Confessional (Sanders): **"Oh, this gonna be awkward."

Static.

The two competitors got in their positions and Don did the countdown. The both took off, starting similar to how Gwen and Mike began. Neck-and-neck. But Duncan was losing ground, he kept glancing over at the Cadet, distracting himself. Sanders, meanwhile, was riding comfortably.

**Confessional (Sanders): **She was grinning. "Ok, I'll admit it. Macarthur's driving skills, or lack thereof, has rubbed off on me. Sometimes, it's nice to have a partner as crazy as mine."

Static.

Duncan continued to watch as Sanders went ahead of him. He didn't want to lose. Or at least, that's what he was telling himself. He looked at his grey box, and had an idea. As they finished the first lap, he slowed down and got behind his opponent.

Gwen quickly figured out what he was doing, as did the other competitors. Once Duncan was directly behind Sanders, he looked at the button again. He held his hand up, and thrust his finger at it.

But he stopped, inches away from pressing the button. He glanced up. He could see Sanders, still ahead of him. For whatever reason, something was telling him not to use his ability. After a brief debate, he conceded and put his arm back. The rest of the competitors were shocked at what they saw, especially Gwen. She watched as Sanders kept her lead, long enough to cross the finish line and win.

**Confessional (Gwen): **She was still looking flabbergasted. "Ok...what the heck just happened?"

Static.

Don watched as the two racers parked their karts. He was equally as shocked. "...and just like that, all the guys have been eliminated from the tournament." He paused, still thinking about what he witnessed. He shook it off. "Alright...next race, I guess."

* * *

As Duncan and Sanders walked back to the other competitors, the next two racers got into their karts. Leshawna grinned at her opponent. "I am gonna enjoy leaving you in the dust."

Amy gulped as she put her helmet on.

Within moments, Don signaled the start of the race and Amy and Leshawna took off down the track.

As they raced, Gwen walked up to the Ex-Con. "Hey," she whispered. "What happened out there?"

Duncan was slightly caught off-guard by Gwen's appearance. He wasn't sure what to say, but eventually found his voice. "I...I…" Duncan looked at the two racing karts and got an idea. "I had no idea what my ability would be so I...I figured it didn't make sense to take the risk." He crossed his arms, and focused on the race.

Gwen looked confused. "But...you lost."

The Ex-Con didn't respond. Gwen could see how desperate he looked. She then glanced over at Sanders. She was content with her win, but kept darting her eyes towards Duncan. This made Gwen think.

**Confessional (Gwen): **"Ok...something weird is going on with him. And I have a feeling Sanders has something to do with it." She pondered to herself, and sighed. "I might regret this...but I'm gonna see if I can help."

Static.

As the race was nearing its conclusion, Jo was thinking. She knew who her opponent would be and looked over at her. Zoey. The Jockette grinned mischievously.

**Confessional (Jo): **"Oh, man. I have this race in the bag. I'm going against Little Miss Pushover." She cackled. "And I might have just the plan to guarantee my victory…"

Static.

Jo subtly walked over to Zoey. She gave a fake, happy smile. "Hey, Red. How ya feeling?"

Zoey was surprised. "Oh...hey, Jo. I'm...I'm good, I guess."

Jo gave an uncharacteristic pat on her back. "I'm glad. I was just thinking about...Spikey, over there. He's been acting weird since he came back. Like, more so than usual."

Zoey looked where Jo was implying. Mike was standing by himself, looking at the ground. Zoey frowned, much to Jo's delight. "Try not to let it get to you." She patted the Indie Chick on the back and walked away. As she did, Jo allowed herself to grin maliciously.

**Confessional (Jo): **She was still holding her grin. "And just like that...I've sealed my victory."

Static.

Zoey's thoughts were interrupted by the race. The winner had just finished the second lap. She braked and stood up, pointing at her opponent.

"And that's how I roll." Leshawna grinned. Amy braked her kart, and got out. It wasn't even close. Amy never once got in front of Leshawna. The Twin rolled her eyes and walked off the track. Duncan watched on, a devilish smirk on his face.

Leshawna ran over the group. Samey could see that Leshawna was heading in her direction. She gulped.

The Sistah held up her hand for a high-five. "Up top." she said excitedly.

Samey just looked up at her friend. She wanted to return the high-five, but she knew Amy was watching them. She just nodded, then looked down.

Leshawna put her hand down, confused. Then she smiled. "Oh, I gotcha." She then wrapped her arms around the Twin in a tight hug. "I forgot you're the hugging type."

Samey was surprised by the sudden hug and felt the grip tighten. All she could do was hope Amy wasn't watching. Unfortunately for her, she was.

* * *

Now only one race was left. As mentioned before, it would be Jo going against Zoey. They both got in their Karts. Don was about to announce the start of the race. Zoey tried to ready herself, but was clearly having trouble focusing. Jo watched on, still pleased with herself.

Don started the countdown. Zoey was still lost in thought, while Jo was focused.

"3...2...1...Go!"

Jo immediately took off down the track. Zoey finally snapped out of her daze and followed behind. They entered the first turn, as everyone watched. Jo was still holding her lead. Zoey tried to pull ahead, but her mind was still on Mike. She tried shaking it off, and decided to use her ability. As they finished the first lap, she pressed the button on the panel. From the front of her kart, the front base opened up, revealing a small cannon. It fired a ball of smelly garbage towards Jo. But since Jo was reentering the first turn, she didn't have to do much to avoid it. She swerved past the watching competitors. They looked in horror as the ball of garbage was heading towards them. It exploded on impact, hitting Noah, and showering everyone else in the disgusting garbage. They groaned, as Zoey drove by, with a look of guilt.

Jo was still holding her lead, and laughed when she saw Zoey's mistake. She decided not to use her ability and rounded the last turn, before crossing the finish line.

"And the winner of the last quarter final is Jo." Don announced. The Jockette laughed as she got out of her kart. She walked up to Amy and the two shared a high-five. The twin winced at the force that Jo unleashed by slapping her hand, but feigned a smile. Don continued. "Alright, we'll take a short break before we enter the semi-finals." Everyone dispersed, but Duncan went and found Noah and Mike. He got them in a huddle, away from everyone else.

"Alright, Noah." The Ex-Con whispered. "We need your help to get rid of that Cheerleader."

Noah crossed his arms. "Let me guess, is this what you were referring to the last time we talked?"

Duncan nodded and explained the events that occurred in Turkey. Mike glared at him in silence. He was still skeptical over Duncan and Zoey, but wasn't about to say it.

When Duncan finished, noticeably more bitter, he let Noah make a decision. The Brainiac thought for a moment, before looking up.

"Alright," He said. "I'll do it. I just have one question." Duncan nodded. "Which 'cheerleading chump' are we eliminating? Or did you forget that there were two of them?"

The Ex-Con opened his mouth, but nothing came out. He stammered and tried to think of the answer. In all his nicknames and insults, he had forgotten which Twin he was mad at.

"It's Amy." Mike said coldly. "Her name's Amy."

Duncan and Noah looked at the spiky haired competitor, surprised by his sudden dark demeanor. But neither asked anything. They instead went back to the track, leaving Mike to dwell in his thoughts.

Zoey watched from a distance, noticing her boyfriend's expression. She frowned.

**Confessional (Zoey): **She sighed. "Mike's been acting so weird lately. I think it has something to do with us being separated for so long." she thought for a moment. "Maybe I should talk to him the next chance I get."

Static

* * *

"Now we move onto the semi-finals." Don announced. "The first race will be Gwen going against Sanders." He looked at the two. "Now, since both of you won the last race, you'll be given their ability, as well as your own."

"Wait, but I never used my ability, nor did Duncan." Sanders spoke up. "How am I supposed to know what I have?"

Don laughed. "Well, you'll just have to find out for yourself. Won't that be fun?"

Sanders was unsure, but shrugged anyways. She looked at her opponent. "Good luck."

Gwen smiled, but as Sanders went to her kart, the Goth narrowed her eyes.

Soon, the two competitors were in their karts. Don did the countdown and they took off. No one took an early lead, but when they reached the first turn, Gwen decided to use one of her abilities. Her wheel deployed the spikes. Sanders reacted to it, and eased off, meaning Gwen was able to get ahead. Now Sanders had no way of passing Gwen without risking her tires getting popped. They soon entered the second turn. Sanders looked at her buttons. Throwing caution to wind, she pushed one of her buttons (that was Duncan's). She heard a whirring noise, and looked to her side. A device had popped out from underneath the kart, and sat up to Sander's side. It started launching tennis balls towards Gwen. As they finished the first lap, Gwen was trying to avoid the projectiles. One tennis ball launched, and hit the button box. Fortunately for Sanders, it was the one that activated the spiked wheels. The spikes retracted. The Cadet took the opportunity, and drove alongside the Goth. They were entering the first turn again. Sanders knew that Gwen had a speed boost, so knew she had to do something. She looked at her other button, and pressed it. Gwen was slightly worried at what would happen. They heard a click sound from behind the kart. Sanders looked back, and went wide eyed. The lower back of her kart had opened and released a stream of black liquid. All of Sanders' excitement diminished.

"Oh, that's not gonna help me in the slightest." She sighed.

Gwen took the opportunity and pressed her speed boost. She sped forward, away from the Cadet as she entered the second turn. Soon the finish line was in sight, and the Goth crossed it easily. Sanders followed soon after. Everyone cheered as the Goth stopped the kart.

"...And Gwen is our first finalist." Don spoke up. "But the question is, who will join her?"

Sanders parked her kart next to Gwen's and got out. "Congrats." She held out her hand. Gwen smiled, and accepted the handshake. Once they finished, Gwen looked over at the other competitors. She saw Duncan, giving an odd look to Sanders, but as soon as she turned in his direction, he looked away. Now, Gwen's suspicions were starting to make sense.

* * *

"I hope you don't feel too bad when I absolutely smoke you, Thunder Thighs."

"Thunder Thighs? You're one to talk. You got caterpillars for eyebrows."

"Joke all you want, I'm about to make you a loser for a second time."

"You sure like to talk. Let's see if you talk as good as you race."

Leshawna and Jo had been trash talking each other, on their way to the karts. Both took their seats, while never breaking their argument.

Duncan watched, with slight amusement. He then looked to his side to see Zoey, looking down, clearly uncomfortable. "What's up? You feeling alright?" he asked.

Zoey sighed. "I don't know. Mike's been acting weird since he got back. I wish he would just tell me what's going on."

Duncan thought for a moment. "Does he still have multiple personalities?"

Zoey shook her head. "He got rid of them at the end of All-Stars. Why?"

Duncan looked over at Mike, who was waiting for the race to start, then he turned back to Zoey. "You think maybe one of them came back? Or he got a new one?"

"Is that even possible?"

Duncan shrugged. "I don't know."

Zoey pondered. "That's actually not a bad theory. Thanks, Duncan."

"It's what I do."

The two's conversation was interrupted, as Jo and Leshawna sped by. Don had signaled the start of the race, and the two started fighting for first place. Jo tried to pass, but Leshawna wasn't making it easier. The Jockette figured she should use one of her abilities. She decided to try the one she got from Zoey. Like before, the front of the kart opened up to reveal the garbage launcher. The first shot hit Leshawna in the back of the kart, and she briefly lost control. Jo used this to her advantage, and took the lead. She cackled, as Leshawna glared at her. She pressed one of her buttons, and a grappling hook shot out from the front of her kart. Unfortunately, it narrowly missed latching onto Jo. With little opposition, Jo finished the first lap. As they entered the second turn, Leshawna used her second ability. The front lights of her kart lit up in a blinding light. They were just entering the first turn again, and Jo saw the light, just out of the corner of her eye. She winced, and briefly let go of the wheel. Leshawna stepped on the gas and was about to pass. At that moment, Jo hit her other button. Her engine suddenly released a thick cloud of black smoke that covered Jo and the area around her. Leshawna couldn't stop in time and drove right through the smoke. She coughed, lost sight of the track and hit the retaining wall. Once the smoke cleared, Jo stepped on the gas and drove off. Leshawna followed. They were about to enter the second, and last, turn.

Jo grinned. "Tough luck, Sistah Blistah. Looks like this race is mine."

Leshawna narrowed her eyes. Then she got an idea. Right before they entered the turn, Leshawna launched her grappling hook and it latched onto the back of Jo's kart. Then Leshawna hit the brakes. Jo started going through the turn, unaware of what was about to happen. The rope suddenly snagged, and Jo was pulled towards the inside line. She was surprised, as her kart was pulled onto the grass and she came to a stop. Leshawna grinned, as she pressed the button again to retract the hook. Jo tried to reverse, but her kart was still stuck. She slammed her fist on the wheel, as Leshawna crossed the finish line.

"Aw yeah." She got off, and celebrated her win with her usual…dance moves, which resulted in either laughter or disgust. Jo glared as she celebrated

* * *

"Now...it's time for the last race." Don stood in front of the eliminated competitors. "Gwen...and Leshawna." The two stepped in front of Don. "You two have raced well, but only one of you can win this challenge. This will be three laps, instead of two. Let's have a good, clean race." He paused. "On second thought, you can go a little crazy."

The two finalists smirked at each other. "Sure you don't want to back down now, Leshawna?" Gwen said playfully. "Might save you the embarrassment."

Leshawna laughed. "Girl, I may like you as a friend, but if you think I'm gonna let you win, you're insane."

The two chuckled, and got in their karts.

Jo watched from the sideline, with her arms crossed. Then she looked over at Don. "Hey, Mr. Host Guy." Don turned to her, slightly annoyed by the nickname. "We need to have one more race to see who gets third place. Me and the Police Chick. Right now."

Don shook his head. "Sorry, Jo. No one gets anything for coming in third. It doesn't matter what place you come in, if it's not first." Then he walked away. Jo grumbled.

**Confessional (Jo): **She slammed her hands on the table. "Are you kidding me?! For the second time, I have to share my placement with someone. First I tied with the Cop Lover and Blondie's twin, now this." She pointed at the camera. "Mark my words, I'm done sharing anything with these chumps."

Static.

* * *

As the two finalists got ready for their race, Amy went up to Duncan. The Ex-Con saw her, and was about to tell the Twin exactly what he thought of her, but Amy spoke first.

"Alright," she whispered. "The plan worked last time and I can convince the girls again to not vote you off. You're still in, right?"

Duncan froze. _Wait, she still thinks I believed her? _

The Ex-Con quickly regained his composure, and feigned a smile. "Oh, yeah of course we're in. Who are we voting off this time?"

Amy smirked. "I was thinking Leshawna. She's been pretty adamant about voting you off, and if she doesn't go, it might be trouble."

Duncan just nodded. Amy walked away. But as they both parted, they smirked evilly.

**Confessional (Amy): **"Yeah, I could eliminate my dumb sister, but it's so much fun to make her miserable." she chuckled. "I'm surprised Duncan hasn't caught onto me though. He must be dumber than I thought."

**Confessional (Duncan): **"Does she think I'm an idiot?" He scoffed. "This couldn't be better. Make her think I'm voting for Leshawna, get the guys together and…" He slammed his fist onto this hand. "BAM! That She-Devil is outta here!"

Static.

As Duncan thought to himself, Zoey looked over at Mike. Deciding that now was as a good a time as any other, she went up to him.

"Hey, Mike?" she said quietly.

Mike turned. "Zoey…" He seemed unsure. "How's it going?"

The Indie Chick was surprised at the response, but continued. "I just wanted to see how you were doing? And if I'm actually talking to 'Mike.' "

Mike was a little caught off guard by the question. He smirked slightly. "Oh...um I'm doing-" He stopped. "Wait, what do you mean by 'talking to Mike?'"

"I...just wanted to know if...you had developed another personality...and if that was the reason you've been acting so weird."

"Weird?" Mike said. Zoey didn't mean any harm, but Mike was so overly paranoid that he took it the wrong way. "Well...if I'm acting so weird, why don't you find someone normal to talk to?!" He looked up. "Maybe, Duncan?"

Zoey was shocked at what was just said to her. She stammered a response. "A-Actually, he was the one who came up with idea...but now-"

"Oh, so Duncan thinks I'm acting weird?" Mike snapped, causing Zoey to step back. "Well, if weird isn't your type anymore, why don't you spend some more time...with him?!" He turned, and walked off.

Zoey was absolutely flabbergasted. What just happened? She wanted to say something, but was too shocked.

"What the heck is his problem?" Duncan asked, walking up to her.

Zoey didn't have the answer.

* * *

Gwen and Leshawna were ready to start. Don did the last countdown.

"3...2...1...Go!"

The two finalists put the pedal to the metal and tore down the track. Gwen immediately decided to use her spiked wheels. Leshawana saw it and kept her distance. As they finished the first turn, Gwen took it a step further and used her oil slick ability. Again, Leshawna was able to react to it and drive around the oil. Gwen still had a good lead, and Leshawna knew she could use her speed boost at any time. She decided to turn on her flasher ability. Gwen was about to press the speed boost button, as they entered the second turn, but the bright light threw her vision off. She pressed a button, not knowing what it was. When Leshawna saw that the spiked wheels had retracted, she sped up, and got past the Goth. She finished the first lap, before Gwen. The Sistah then used her smokescreen. Gwen knew if she slowed down, she wouldn't be able to catch up, so decided to use her speed boost. She flew through the black smoke and ended up smacking into the back of Leshawna's kart. The Sistah looked back at her friend, and they shared a smirk. Leshawna pulled away, and the two were neck and neck again. They kept a steady pace, finishing the second lap at the same time. Gwen hit the boost and took back the lead. Leshawna quickly got behind her and shot her grappling hook, latching onto Gwen's seat. The Goth tried to shake it off by using the oil slick. Leshawna started swerving, but was still attached to Gwen's kart. They had just entered the second turn. Leshawna knew she had to do something, so hit the brakes. It worked slightly and Gwen was slowing down. Gwen tried to pull off, but the hook was still attached. She needed to think of something. She pressed one of her buttons. Out popped the tennis ball launcher. Gwen aimed it behind her and it fired at Leshawna. The Sistah tried to dodge the projectiles, but one bounced off her face. It then landed on her grey box. Thankfully for Gwen, it was the one that released the grappling hook. Now with nothing holding her back, Gwen hit the speed boost and sped forward. All Leshawna could do was watch as her friend crossed the finish line. This meant one thing…

"And the winner of the Racing Challenge is...Gwen!" Don exclaimed.

Leshawna couldn't help but smirk as her friend took a victory. Most of the other competitors cheered.

**Confessional (Gwen): **She raised her arms up. "YES!" She screamed. "I finally won a merge challenge. Not bad for a finalist, wouldn't ya say?" She let out another delighted shriek.

* * *

Gwen got off the track and walked to the rest of the competitors. Most of them cheered for her again. She high-fived Leshawna and Zoey. And even though she didn't go up to her, Samey gave a subtle smile. Gwen saw it, and returned one of her own.

Don walked up to her. "Congratulations, Gwen. You win the challenge, and immunity." The Goth's grin grew wider. "But, since we won't be doing the elimination ceremony until tonight, I figured we would give a special reward." He paused for dramatic effect. "Gwen, you're gonna be spending the day at Sal's All-Star Go Kart race track. We rented out the entire place just for you…"  
Gwen raised an eyebrow.

**Confessional (Gwen): **"So my prize for winning the go-kart race...is another go-kart race." She thought about it. Then, she shrugged. "Yet again, I can't really complain. I get immunity...and a prize."

Static.

"...And you'll be allowed to bring one fellow competitor with you." Don finished.

Gwen looked at the line of competitors. She already had a few ideas of who to bring. She and Leshawna were friends _and_ she was the runner-up. She also thought about Zoey. And Samey. But she also knew they had their own issues to deal with. She thought again for a moment, and remembered a certain moment, involving a certain competitor, during the challenge. And she had questions for this person.

"I choose Sanders."

This was met with some surprised faces. They all looked at the Cadet, who was equally shocked. "Me?" She said. Gwen nodded. Sanders paused for a moment, then shrugged. She headed towards her friend. Duncan watched, slightly confused himself. But he quickly snapped out of it. As everyone dispersed, he went and found the two other guys.

"Alright, we need to have a plan to vote off Amy." He said, gathering Mike and Noah in a huddle. Mike was notiecably bitter, but neither of the guys noticed.

"We need six votes to guarantee her elimination." Noah analyzed. "So if we each find at least one person to vote with us, our plan should work. I can probably talk to Gwen."

"Good idea," Duncan said, wincing slightly at the mention of his ex-girlfriend. "I guess I can talk to Zoe-"

"No!" Mike blurted out.

Noah and Duncan were caught off guard by the Spikey Haired competitor's outburst and stepped back. "I can talk to her." Mike said hastily.

Noah and Duncan looked at each other. They had questions, but neither wanted to ask them after what just happened.

"Ok…" Noah said, breaking the silence. "That just leaves you." He faced Duncan.

The Ex-Con pondered for a moment. Then a thought crossed him. He cringed slightly and sighed. "I...might have an idea…"

* * *

Amy, as well as everyone else, were heading back to the trailers. The Twin was feeling confident about her situation. Then something caught her eye. It was a sister. That gave Amy a nasty idea. _Why not rub a little salt in the wound? _she said to herself.

"Hey...Samey."

The Nicer Twin rolled her eyes, and looked dully at her sister. "What do you want, Amy?"

Amy kept her grin. "I just wanted to know who you were voting for." She asked innocently.

Samey scoffed. "Why should I tell you that?"

"Let me guess, are you planning on voting for me?" Samey didn't say anything, which gave Amy's answer. "I think you should vote for Leshawna."

This made Samey burst out into laughter. "What? Why would I do that? She's my friend. You must be losing it, sis."

Amy tried to act unphased. She held back the urge to snarl, and smiled. "Oh, I'm not losing it. In fact, I won't be losing anything." She reached behind her back. "Because I have this…"

And pulled out the invincibility statue.

Samey stopped laughing, and her jaw dropped. "What? How did you get that?"

Her sister put the statue back. "That's not important. What's important is that you vote with me tonight?"

Samey looked skeptical. "And why would I do that?"

"Because if you don't." Amy stepped right in her sister's face. "I'm just gonna keep voting off the people you like." She smirked. "Like I already did to Dawn and Jasmine." Samey gasped, and Amy stepped back. "Vote with me, and I'll leave you alone." She started to walk away. "But if you don't, I will keep making your life miserable. What I did to you in our first season will be nothing compared to what I do to you _this_ season." She was soon out of sight, and Samey was left alone. The Twin gulped, realizing the trouble she was in.

* * *

Zoey was saying goodbye to Gwen, as she stepped into the Limo that would take her away. Then she looked up and saw Mike walking towards her. Her mood quickly changed. She waved to her friend, and walked to her boyfriend.

"Mike," She said sternly. "You better explain what's been going on, right-"

"Zoey," Mike interrupted. "I'm really sorry how I've been acting lately...I'm also sorry for yelling at you earlier. It's just that…" He sighed.

"It's just what?" Zoey asked calmly.

Mike thought for a second. "I...I can't say it." He answered. "But maybe you can help me with something."

Zoey gave a weird look. "So you can't tell me, but you want me to...help you? Why can't you just say what's going on?"

Mike held up his hands. "I just need you to do this one thing. The guys and I are planning on voting off Amy. With any luck, we already have enough votes. So here's what I want you to do…"

Zoey shrugged. "I guess I can vote for Amy…"

"I need you to vote for Duncan."

Zoey froze and her jaw dropped. "W-What?"

"I want you to vote for-"

"I heard what you said, but why?" Zoey questioned, still flabbergasted.

"He's not going to get voted off." Mike reassured. "I just want you to vote for him, and I promise, everything will go back to the way it was before."

"Wha-"

"Please, Zoey. Please do this for me. For us." Mike gave a hopeful smile and kissed the Indie Chick on the cheek. Then he turned and headed off.

Zoey was left by herself. With a tough choice to make.

* * *

Gwen sat across, in the limo, from Sanders, who was looking out the window. They hadn't said much to each other, and were just occupying themselves until they got to the go-kart track. But Gwen had a reason for bringing Sanders with her.

"Sanders, can I ask something?"

The Cadet turned away from the window. "What's up?"

Gwen took a deep breath. "I...wanted to ask you this for a while, but I needed to be sure." Sanders now looked nervous, having an idea of what the question was. Much to her dismay, "Is there something going on between you and Duncan?" Sanders looked away, trying to hide her blush. "I'll take that as a yes." She heard Gwen mumble.

Knowing the feeling wasn't going away, and that she had already told someone, Sanders sighed and turned back around. "I...can't speak for Duncan, but...yes. I...I like him."

Gwen's eyes went wide. She sort of knew, but hearing it from Sanders herself was a bit of a shock. "Wow." That was all the Goth said. A few awkward seconds of silence passed, before Gwen spoke again. "What about Duncan? Does he feel-"

"I already talked to Leshawna about that." Sanders interrupted. "I have no idea, and to be honest, I'm even less sure now. He hasn't spoken to me at all today." She exhaled. "I'm pretty sure he's been purposefully avoiding me."

Sanders was worried Gwen would find that weird, but to her surprise, she got a different reaction. "Sanders…" Gwen smiled at her. "He totally likes you."

Sanders raised an eyebrow. "How do you know?"

Gwen laughed. "He's probably the most stubborn dude I've ever met. Back when he and Courtney liked each other, she constantly denied anything was going on between them." She snickered. "Now he's in the exact same situation. If he's avoiding you, he's probably too afraid to admit that he likes you."

Sanders was surprised at the Goth's answer, but smiled anyway. "Thanks...that actually makes me feel a little better." Her expression softened though. "So what am I supposed to do about it?"

Gwen kept her smile. "Give him a little push, and he'll admit it."

Sanders didn't know if she liked the answer, but was happy that Gwen was willing to help. Besides, maybe she did know a thing or two about Duncan. After all, the two used to be a couple.

* * *

Since the rest of the competitors had nothing to do until the elimination ceremony, most of them decided to just rest or chat with one another. Amy was walking towards the girls trailer, ready for a nap. Once she arrived, she saw Jo, stretching at the entrance. The Jockette grinned when she saw her.

"Hey, Blondie. What's up?" She asked.

Amy was a little surprised. She hadn't spoken to Jo in a while, and wasn't expecting such a casual response. "Uh…" She stammered. "I'm good. I was gonna take a nap. What about you?"

Jo continued stretching. "Oh, I was just gonna go for a run." she scoffed. "All these losers think it's a good time to rest. Ima show them what a real winner looks like." She looked down at Amy, and then realized what she just said. "Uh, no offense."

Amy twitched. She _did_ take offense to it, but wasn't about to tell Jo that. She forced a smile. "No worries." She said through gritted teeth.

Jo smirked, then a thought struck her. "Oh, by the way, who were you thinking of eliminating tonight?"

Amy went wide eyed. What did Jo just say? She was still committed to the alliance? They hadn't talked in a while, and Amy figured Jo wasn't going to need her anymore. Not wanting the opportunity to go to waste, she gave her answer. "I was...I was actually thinking of voting off Leshawna. I don't think she likes me after I got her eliminated the first time."

Jo gave a thumbs-up, much to Amy's delight. She was about to head into the trailer, but she heard Jo's voice. "Hey...Amy?" Amy turned around. She noticed that Jo had used her real name. The Jockette looked uncharacteristically bashful. She looked at the Twin. "I don't say this about most people but...I know we haven't talked in a while, and…" She rubbed the back of her head. "I think you're a pretty cool person. Ya stuck around when everyone else ditched us. So...if, and when, I win this game, I...I might give you some of my money."

Amy froze. Was Jo considering her a...close friend? Amy immediately looked excited, and clapped her hands. "Oh, thank you so much, Jo. I can't wait." She thought of something else. "And, if I win, I'll split some of the money with you too."

Jo smirked again, and turned to start her run. As soon as she was out of sight, Amy gave one of her traditional devilish grins.

**Confessional (Amy): **She cackled maniacally. "Oh. My. Goodness. Jo actually believes that we're going to the finale together?" She laughed again. "She's officially the dumbest person here." she chuckled and looked at the camera. "Congrats Samey, we found someone who's more stupid than you…"

Static

* * *

It was nighttime when the white limo pulled up to the elimination ceremony. Sanders and Gwen stepped out. Sanders had a small gold trophy in her hand. The two walked over to the Gilded Chris awards.

"Where the heck was that energy when you raced me the first time?" Gwen asked, looking at the trophy.

Sanders laughed. "You're just mad that you didn't have any spiked wheel."

The two shared a chuckle, before walking to the setup. The rest of the competitors were already seated and Don was standing at the podium and Chef behind him. Duncan had a huge grin on his face, while Samey looked very upset. Gwen sat next to Noah, while Sanders took her seat a few rows in front of Duncan.

Don was holding a golden statue of Chris, inspecting it. "Geez, this thing is ugly. It's not even remotely accurate. His cleft chin is a lot bigger." He shrugged, tossed the statue behind his back. It ended up smacking Chef in the forehead. He grumbled and rubbed his bruise. Don turned his attention to the competitors. "For tonight's elimination ceremony, we'll be doing something a little different." Chef walked up, rolling a familiar set piece onto the stage. Don presented it. "You'll be voting in this confessional from season one." Chef set the confessional in the middle of the stage. The competitors watched on.

* * *

Noah was the first to walk into the confessional. As everyone waited, Duncan scooted down next to Sanders. "Hey," he whispered.

Sanders was caught off-guard by the Ex-Con. She quickly tried to calm herself, but was still flustered. "Oh, hey. Good to see you...again. Um, I...I won a trophy at the race track today. It was...fun." She held up her prize.

Duncan was also caught off guard. So much so, he couldn't help but let out a small laugh. This calmed down Sanders a little. But Duncan had more to say. "I need your help with something," Sanders listened. "And I'll probably owe you...again for this, but do you know who you're gonna vote for?"

"Not really," Sanders answered.

"Good. Can you vote with me tonight?"

"Oh," Sanders blushed a little. "I guess I can."

Duncan grinned. "Perfect. I'm voting for Amy." He started to move back to his original seat, when…

"Can I use it tonight?"

Duncan froze. "What?"

"Can I use my IOU tonight?" Sanders asked, now looking at the Ex-Con.

Duncan wasn't sure how to respond at first. He stared blankly at the Cadet. "Uh...sure, I guess you can." He relaxed and sat down. "What did you have in mind?"

Sanders started to blush again. "I was...I was actually hoping we could...just...walk and talk...under the moon...when it's quiet...just a thought." She choked on her last words.

Again, Duncan froze. What the heck was she asking him? Was she using her IOU for a...a date? Duncan shook his head after that thought. He looked again at Sanders, and struggled to find his voice. "I...well...I guess, since I owe you….sure thing."

Sanders smiled, which threw Duncan off again. He went back to his seat. The Cadet couldn't contain her excitement and her smile only grew wider.

* * *

Zoey was the last person to walk out of the confessional. She walked out, with a guilty expression. She looked up to see Mike, staring at her. She nervously smiled at him, which Mike responded to with a nod. The Indie Chick walked back to her seat.

Don grinned at the rest of the competitors. "Alright, everyone. I have news. We don't have any Chris McLean statues because we found a better use for them." He took a large gold chain from under the podium and put it around his neck. Chef grumbled, from a distance. Don continued, pulling out a remote. "So for today's elimination ceremony, we're gonna find out who you all voted for...right now."

Immediately, all the competitors went wide eyed. Zoey gulped, realizing what that meant. Samey also gave a fearful look. Don pressed the button on his remote and the floor opened up, revealing a small television. The screen went to static, before showing the first confessional.

**Confessional (Noah): **He casually crossed out a picture, without saying anything. After he was done, he looked at the camera. "Yeah, I'm not saying who I voted for. Only an idiot wouldn't realize that they're gonna show the votes."

**Confessional (Leshawna): **She was holding up a picture of Amy with a big red X on it. "Amy. Your pasty white butt is out of here."

**Confessional (Jo): **She smirked as she crossed out a picture of Leshawna. "I don't say this about a lot of people, but that cheerleader ain't half bad."

**Confessional (Duncan): **He had a wicked grin on his face. "Nobody messes with Duncan. Nobody." He crossed out his picture of Amy. "See ya around, Blondie."

**Confessional (Sanders): **She was excitedly talking to herself. "Oh, boy. He said 'yes.' He said 'yes.' I can't stop shaking." She looked down at her shirt. "Should I change into something a little nicer, like a blouse or something?" she paused. "Did I even bring a blouse?" Suddenly, she realized something. "Oh, right." She took a picture of Amy and crossed it out.

**Confessional (Amy): **She cackled to herself. "Maybe after this, I can finally get rid of that loser Jo. What a sucker." She confidently crossed out a picture of Leshawna.

**Confessional (Gwen): **Without saying much, she crossed out a picture of Amy.

**Confessional (Mike): **He was holding a photo. It was a picture of Duncan. "Come on, Zoey…" He put the picture down and took the photo of Amy, crossing it out.

**Confessional (Samey): **She held a picture of Leshawna. She couldn't believe what she was about to do. "I-I'm sorry, Leshawna. I don't want to do this, but I don't have a choice." Reluctantly, she crossed out the photo.

**Confessional (Zoey): **She was holding a picture of Duncan, with a similar expression to Samey's. "I...I can't do it." She put the picture down, and picked up the photo of Amy. "I don't know what's going on with Mike, but hopefully he won't figure this out." She crossed out the photo of Amy.

Static.

* * *

As the screen sank back into the stage, the competitors were left speechless. Zoey immediately looked back at Mike. He was already staring at her, and needless to say, his expression could best be described as absolute betrayal. Leshawna cast a suspicious glance at Samey, who tried to look away. Jo was also confused at what was said. She could see Amy, just as surprised as everyone else, sitting in her seat. Duncan was the one to break the silence.

"Karma's a bitch, ain't it Blondie?" He cackled.

Amy didn't respond, so Don spoke up.

"Well, the votes are in. And with seven votes against her...Amy, you're done."

Duncan's laugh only grew louder at this. But Samey cringed. She knew what was coming next.

Amy stood up, and looked at Duncan. He was delighted by her annoyed face. "I'm not going anywhere." She responded coldly. Duncan froze, while Amy turned around and reached behind her back.

Revealing the Chris McLean invincibility statue.

The rest of the competitors, save for Samey, gasped. Jo's initial look of shock, changed into rage.

"Oh, yeah that." Don said unimpressed. "That was declared null and void after Chris left the show."

Amy went wide eyed, and nearly dropped the statue. "Wait, what?"

Don tried to hold it in, but he quickly burst into a loud fit of laughter. "Nah...I'm just kidding. That was too good." He kept laughing before finally calming down. "Amy, because you used the statue, you're safe from elimination."

Amy cast a very evil glare. "Which means…" She turned around. Leshawna looked at her, realizing what was going to happen.

"Now, the competitor with the second highest amount of votes will be eliminated." Don announced. "And with three votes against her...Leshawna is, once again, out of the competition."

The Sistah tried comprehending what just happened. But before she could do anything, she felt something hit, and wrap around, her arm. She looked down.

"I'm so sorry," Samey cried, tightening her hug. "I didn't have a choice. I-I didn't want to do it, but...but…"

As Samey's apology turned to babbling, Leshawna looked back at Amy. The mastermind behind her elimination had her arms crossed, and an incredibly smug smirk plastered on her face. Leshawna glared angrily, then softened up when she looked back at Samey. She grabbed the Twin by her shoulders and sat her up straight. By this point, Samey already had tears streaming down her face. "Listen to me." Leshawna shook her friend. Samey stared back, still with wet eyes. "You need to get a grip."

Samey didn't know what to say, especially with Leshawna's stern expression. She wiped her eyes. "But...but I don't know what I'm supposed to do."

"Yes, you do." Leshawna bluntly stated. "You're so much stronger than you think you are. Your sister is only doing this because she knows exactly what I know and what you should know." Samey didn't respond. "You're better than her, and you can go all the way, if you wanted."

"But my closest friends are gone." Samey choked. "Including you."

"Yeah, and they're probably all watching you, cheering you on." Leshawna said calmly. "And I'll be doing the same. And I know for a fact that you don't like letting people down. So, tell me." She released her grip and stood up. "Are you about to let me down?"

Samey sat down, still with tears in her eyes. Leshawna's words echoed in her head. And in that instance, Samey knew her friend was right. Wiping away her tears, she stood up. When she looked up, she wasn't sad anymore. She looked confident, and determined, and nodded. Leshawna returned it. She held her hand up for a high-five. Samey returned it, and the two smiled. But Leshawna's expression softened when she realized her time was up. She waved to the rest of the competitors, turned around and headed to the waiting lame-o-sine.

Zoey waved back. She then heard the sound of someone walking away, and she turned. She could see Mike, marching away. Though the Indie Chick couldn't read her boyfriend's face, she knew he wasn't happy.

As the lame-o-sine's doors closed and Leshawna was driven away, Amy watched, satisfied her plan had worked. But then she felt a glare piercing her back. She turned around, and was met with a pissed off Jockette, stomping in her direction.

"You… are so dead." She snarled.

Amy realized the trouble she was in, and ran off, leaving Jo to give chase.

Don watched them, then looked at the camera. "Wow. Wow. Wow. That...was insane. I...don't have the word to describe what just happened. As quickly as she got here, Leshawna's out again. Amy just lost her safety net, and her only ally. And to top all of it off..." He held up his new piece of jewelry. "I've got this sweet new chain." He flashed his traditional smile. "What awaits these competitors? Find out, on the next episode of...Total...Drama...L...egends! Hot dang, I love this show!"

* * *

**Writing challenges are probably the hardest parts of doing the chapters, so this was definitely a...challenge for me. Yes, yes, I'm hilarious. But this was still fun. And yeah, I didn't really have much else for Leshawna. I know some people might be confused that I brought her back just to eliminate her again. That's fair, but this is what I had planned. Not much else to say. Hope y'all enjoy and leave a review. I'm honestly shocked by how far I've come. **

**Peace be with ya!**

* * *

Merge: Amy, Duncan, Gwen, Jo, Mike, Noah, Samey, Sanders and Zoey

Placement:

22nd: Sierra

21st: Lightning

20th: Tyler

19th: Cody

18th: Heather

17th: Alejandro

16th: Owen

15th: Macarthur

14th: Scott

13th: Courtney

12th: Dawn

11th: Jasmine

10th: Leshawna

Votes:

Amy: Duncan, Noah, Mike, Gwen, Zoey, Sanders, Leshawna (Don't count)

Leshawna: Jo, Amy, Samey


	18. Bad Boys, Badder Girls

**Thank you for the reviews from the last chapter. Remember to leave one for this chapter, once you're done reading it. **

* * *

**So for those unaware, FanFiction had an issue where my last chapter: The Fast and the Ridonculous, kept blinking in and out of existence. It's been resolved, and I just wanted to ask that, if you haven't already, go back and read it. It's kind of an important one for what happens here. **

* * *

**WhattheHeck23: Glad you enjoyed it. The Don fakeout was something I was proud of, so I'm glad you were caught off guard. **

**Gman: A Quiet Place. **

**Kirbystar: Loved that you loved it. Hopefully, this chapter is just as eventful. **

**Matinas: That would absolutely help her. Let's see if she gets it. **

**Womanlikemegan: Thank you. I loved writing the twist in the end. **

**DSX62415: Let's see what she does.**

**Infinity Wizard: Fair point. I obviously meant no ill will towards people with MPD, or things related to that. Glad you thought the Don fakeout was hilarious. **

**Carl (Ch 14): Don't know if you're caught up yet, but once you read this, thank you. The Duncan and Courtney talk is something I still feel iffy about, but I'm happy you really liked it. **

* * *

"Previously on Total Drama Legends," Don introduced. "Things. Got. Crazy. For starters we had an all out tournament that saw the final ten competitors racing each other for immunity and bragging rights. There were wipeouts (Mike bumping into Samey) and...ok there were a lot of wipeouts (Leshawna tripping up Jo and Mike crashing into the wall), but everyone showed why they were here. But Mike didn't seem to be entirely...there. His suspicions of his girlfriend and Duncan played on his mind and affected both his game, and his attitude. In the end, our season one veteran, Gwen, was able to take home the victory. And she and Sanders had a little chat involving a certain ex-convict. Juicy. Amy was, once again, on the chopping block to be eliminated, but, thankfully for her, she had the ugly invincibility statue on hand. She may have sent Leshawna home for the second time, but she also lost her only ally in Jo."

The screen flash, revealing Don, standing in front of a clipboard with the pictures of the remaining competitors. He was wearing the gold chain from the last episode. "Something tells me Jo won't take the betrayal too well." He chuckled. "Amy's got a target on her back the size of Chris' chin, Duncan's got a date with a cop, Mike and Zoey have some things to work out and Samey must face today's, and tomorrow's, challenge...alone. All that and more, right here...on Total...Drama...L...egends!"

* * *

It was night time, and a shadowy figure had just entered a dark room. It flipped a switch on the wall and revealed the room to be a small bedroom, with a crappy bed, a small lamp and a few papers strewn across the floor. The figure was shown to be Chef, in his PJs. It was a simple white tank top, and blue boxer briefs. He yawned and lay down in his bed. Once he was covered, he flipped another switch, turning off the lights.

It had barely lasted five seconds, when the lights came back on. Chef, annoyed, opened his eyes and looked at the door.

"I need you to get up." Don said, with a cup of tea in his hand.

Chef grumbled and laid back down. "It's late."

Don smirked, and walked towards the Chef. "I need you, and the interns, to set up tomorrow's challenge. It might take all night, but I need you to get it done."

Chef didn't bother moving. "Do it yourself."

Don kept his smirk, as he was standing next to Chef. "Oh, I don't think I will. In fact, why don't I tell the producers how you've been acting? Maybe I can keep Chris off the show for another few episodes. The ratings have been pretty good, so I doubt they'll have any trouble doing so."

Chef didn't move for a bit. But soon enough, he sat up, now grumbling. Still groggy, he grabbed a nearby tool box and walked out of his room. Don was left, feeling proud of himself.

* * *

Meanwhile, in the girls trailer, all the female competitors were calmly chatting, or getting ready for bed. A few of them were noticeably absent. But one of them was about to make her entrance.

Suddenly a hand shot through the door, sending splinters everywhere. The rest of the girls jumped, as the hand retracted, pulling the door off its hinges. A very (and I mean very) furious Jo entered.

"Where...the hell...is she?" She said through gritted teeth. The female competitors just watched her, no one able to answer. The Jockette looked around.

"She's not here, Jo." Gwen finally answered.

Jo shot a look at the Goth, who was sitting on the same bed as Zoey. Then she turned to another competitor. Samey was standing on the opposite side. Jo was too mad to think straight and walked towards her. "You'll have to do."

Samey realized the trouble she was about to face, and tried to move back.

"Hey, leave her alone!" Gwen suddenly appeared between the two, trying to keep Jo away. "She's not the one that called you a loser. Whatever happened at the ceremony was not her fault."

Jo scowled at the Goth. "Stay out of this, Pale Face."

As the two argued, Samey stared at them. She was still thinking about what Leshawna said to her before she left. She took a deep breath, and pushed Gwen to the side.

"Look, what my sister did was terrible, and I'm not surprised she did it." Samey pointed. Jo was surprised, and stepped back. Samey continued. "But she and I are nothing alike. I had nothing to do with it. She tricked me too, remember? Don't act like you're the only one who 's ever been betrayed by her."

The trailer was filled with stunned silence. You could hear a pin drop. Jo was especially shocked at how the Twin stood up for herself. She looked around at the other girls, who were still shocked. Finally, the Jockette mumbled something to herself and walked out the trailer. Samey took a deep breath, and smiled proudly to herself.

**Confessional (Samey): **Her smile quickly changed when she finally let go of the breath she was holding in. "Oh my god." She gasped. "That was easily the scariest thing I've ever done." She tried calming herself down, but it was difficult. "This whole stepping up for myself is a lot harder than I thought." Finally, she was able to slow her breaths, and smiled. "But I gotta say, it was pretty rewarding."

Static

* * *

In the other trailer, it was a lot less hectic. Noah was calmly reading his book, with a small reading lamp by his side. Mike was sitting on the top bunk across from him. Needless to say, a lot was on his mind. Seeing Zoey go directly against him, and not vote for Duncan was...stinging. _How could Zoey betray me like that? _He thought to himself. _All she had to do was vote for Duncan, and that would be it. _His face scowled. _And she seemed really upset over the thought of voting off that criminal_. But then Mike realized something. He looked around. _Where is Duncan? _

* * *

Duncan was, in fact, holding his end of the bargain. He and Sanders had been walking under the dark sky, with only the moon and the stars as their light. He hadn't said a word, nor had Sanders. Needless to say, this wasn't what she had imagined.

**Confessional (Sanders): **She groaned dramatically. "Ugh. Can't we have one elimination ceremony without any twists or dramatic exits." She crossed her arms, looking uncomfortable. "He's probably really upset over what happened too." She thought for a moment. "Maybe I should take Gwen's advice...and give him a little push."

Static

As they walked, side by side, on the grassy field, Sanders took a deep breath and looked at Duncan. "So...how are you feeling...y'know...after what happened?"

An awkward, and long, silence followed. Sanders figured she wasn't getting anywhere, and was thinking of turning back, when she heard a sigh.

"Well…" Duncan started. "I'm pretty pissed. I got played by some cheerleader." He gritted his teeth. "I'm a veteran on this show, this shouldn't have happened." He looked down at the ground, grumbling to himself. But after a few seconds, his expression softened and he glanced at Sanders. He could see her looking uncomfortable, like she was regretting asking the question. This made Duncan think for a second, and he exhaled. "Sorry…I...I know this probably isn't how you imagined things going. If you want, we can turn back and call it a night."

Sanders pondered, trying to mask her surprise at Duncan's apology. Then she got an idea, and smirked. "Actually...why don't we just change the subject? Maybe to something you like?"

Duncan scoffed, still looking down. "Ok, no offense, but I don't think you want to hear about the stuff that I like."

"What about horror movies?"

Duncan's head shot up, and he looked at the now grinning Cadet. "W-What about them?" He asked.

"You like horror films, right?" She shot a thumb in her direction. "So do I."

Duncan blinked. "Ok...yeah I like horror movies, but...I don't think you watch the same ones as me."

"What about Blood Reaper?" Duncan stopped, dead in his tracks. He stared confusingly at the Cadet, as she continued to list off other films. "Or...Forest of Death? Dead by Noon? One-Armed Knife Guy? Children of the-"

"Hold it!" Duncan said, putting his hands up. "How exactly does someone like you, enjoy watching films like that?"

Sanders held her smirk. "Actually...it was Macarthur's idea. She wanted us to be alert when we had to do night watch, so we trained for it by watching horror movies all night. I actually got into most of them. Not something I thought I would like." She chuckled. "In hindsight, it probably wasn't the best idea. Macarthur still sleeps with a metal bat under her pillow because of it."

Duncan was speechless. He had not expected that. But, he also figured that talking about something he enjoyed, was better than seething over Amy. He felt himself start to ease up. "Alright…" He thought for a second. "Favorite scene in Blood Reaper?"

Sanders' smile was nowhere near as big as the one in her head. They continued walking down the grassy field. "Oh that's easy, the scene near the end when the girl confronts the reaper? Macarthur freaked out so much during that scene that she…"

The two continued to walk and talk under the bright moonlight. While she seemed very calm on the outside, Sanders was ecstatic on the inside.

* * *

Jo was still scouting for the missing Amy. She had looked around almost the entire set, and found nothing. She was returning to the trailer, figuring she'd just turn up in the morning. Amy was actually hiding out in a nearby tree. Needless to say, she was not comfortable in her current situation.

**Confessional (Amy): **She groaned. "Duncan's an idiot. Forcing me to use the statue. Now Jo hates me and I don't have a single ally to back me up." She glared at the camera, then smirked devilishly. "I'm gonna make all three boys regret ever messing with me."

Static

In the girls trailer, Gwen was trying to comfort an upset Zoey. The Indie Chick was still in her regular clothes, while the Goth was in her PJs.

"I don't get what happened." Zoey sighed. "He just told me to vote for Duncan and...he didn't give a reason."

Gwen gave a sympathetic pat on the back. "It doesn't make a lot of sense for him to be acting so weird."

Zoey gave another sad sigh. "That's another thing. I've been kinda mean about what's been going on."

Gwen raised an eyebrow. "What are you talking about?"

The Indie Chick sat up. "Mike's been through a lot. He lost all his personalities and struggled most of life to control them. And I've just been calling it...weird. Like, is that selfish of me?"

"But you don't know what's going on." objected Gwen. "You two have been together for a while now, he shouldn't have any problem telling you what's wrong."

Zoey put her legs up on the bed and hugged them. "I don't know. Mike doesn't always like to tell me...or anyone, about his issues. He wasn't even the one who told me about his multiple personalities. Cam did."

Gwen looked at her friend. She wasn't sure what to say. But after a few moments, she gathered her thoughts, and stood up, putting a hand on the Indie Chick's shoulder. "Zoey...I wish I could tell you how to fix everything, but I can't. But I'm sure everything will work out in the end. I don't think he's ever stopped liking you, if that helps."

Zoey looked up at Gwen, and tried her best to smile. "Thanks, Gwen. You're a good friend."

"Don't I know it?" Gwen laughed. Zoey followed suit, though quietly. She headed towards the door. "If you're not awake when I get back, I'll see you tomorrow morning."

Zoey smiled. "Goodnight, Gwen."

"Night."

And the Goth closed the door behind her.

* * *

It was dark, when Duncan and Sanders had made their way back to the trailers. They looked tired, as they split off to head to their respective trailers.

"Goodnight." Sanders said.

"Night." Duncan responded, opening his door. Sanders stopped at the foot of her steps and watched him enter and close the door behind him. She sat down at her steps and sighed. The quiet night allowed her to think. But it was soon interrupted by the sound of footsteps. Sanders looked up and saw Gwen heading towards her, toothbrush in hand. She smiled once she saw the Cadet.

"Hey, Sanders." she whispered. "What's up?"

Sanders returned the smile, and stood up. "About to head for bed. You?"

"Same." Gwen paused for a moment, and smirked. "So you took my advice?"

Sanders raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"

"I saw you guys walking to the trailers together. You must have been gone for a while." Gwen playfully nudged the Cadet.

Sanders chuckled, but it soon faded. "Yeah it was...it was nice. I guess…" She trailed off.

Gwen noticed this and frowned. "Did it not go well?"

Sanders looked up. "No, it went fine, it's just that...I'm worried. After what happened tonight, Duncan could very well be the next one out of here." She sighed. "Amy probably wants to get revenge for him calling her a-"

"Yeah, I remember." Gwen interrupted. She could see the Cadet's sad state, and thought of something to cheer her up. "Hey, it's alright. Duncan's smart, he's gotten out of worse. And if anything, he'll probably try extra hard to stay on so he can eliminate Amy...and probably talk to you again."

This made Sanders feel a little better. "Thanks." She said, stepping off the stairs. Gwen smiled and headed inside. As she left, Sanders thought to herself. _Now it's just a matter of if he actually likes me or not_. She sighed, and headed into the trailer.

Meanwhile Duncan was lying in his bed. Mike and Noah were already asleep, so he was left to his thoughts. He had enjoyed his walk and talk with Sanders, but…

**Confessional (Duncan): **"Sanders is...better than most cops I've met. Heck, she's probably the _coolest_ cop I've ever met." He paused, thinking of what to say next. "But I don't date cops. Period. End...of story." He crossed his arms, and looked away from the camera.

Static.

* * *

Next morning, all the competitors had gathered at the catering tent, eating breakfast. Mike and Zoey were noticeable sitting on different tables, occasionally glancing looks at each other. Jo was standing near the tent's entrance, obviously waiting for someone.

"Where is she?" She grunted. "That stupid cheerleader has to eat at some point."

Little did Jo know, Amy was already in the tent, under one of the tables. She had a small plate of food and was desperately trying to stay quiet.

Duncan, Noah and Mike were all sitting together, though only two of them were talking.

"I got a good feeling about this." Duncan grinned. "As long as she doesn't win today's challenge, we can vote her off. Jo hates her, and we can probably get one more vote and…" He clapped his hands together. "...BOOM. She's out."

Noah didn't share the excitement. "I don't know. I think she's aware how big of a target is on her back. She's probably gonna try harder to stay in the game."

The Ex-Con just scoffed. "You saw what happened in the racing challenge. She was eliminated in the first round."

Noah blinked, and tried to hold back a grin. "So did you…"

Duncan was about to retort, but felt slightly embarrassed at what the Brainiac just said. He heard a light chuckle and turned. He saw Sanders, covering her mouth and looking at him. This made Duncan's face turn red, and he turned away. Noah noticed this and was about to say something, when…

"Ha, got ya."

Duncan and Noah turned to see Jo, pulling a pleading Amy out from the other table. The Jockette held her by the collar of her cheerleader uniform.

"Please don't hurt me." Amy begged

"You betrayed me." Jo said coldly. "And you thought you'd get away with it?"

"Oh, come on. You would've done the same."

Jo thought for a moment, then shrugged. "You got a point." Then she went back to glaring. "But I wasn't the one who did it." She pulled her arm back, and closed her fist. Amy shut her eyes, preparing for the worst.

"That's enough, Jo." The Jockette stopped, and turned around. Don had just walked into the tent. "Put her down. Can't have any injured competitors on my watch."

"And what are you going to do?" Jo rolled her eyes.

"Well, I could send you home right now, if you like."

Jo considered her options. She grunted, and dropped Amy to her feet. The Twin immediately stepped back, away from the Jockette's grasp. Don turned to the rest of the competitors. "I need all of you to follow me. It's challenge time." He left the tent, while the other competitors followed. Zoey watched from a distance, still unsure of how she should handle her situation with Mike.

* * *

Soon the competitors were in a large grass field. In the middle of it, stood a large structure made of steel. It had four long, and tall, walls. It covered almost the entire grass field. From above, it had several hallways and branching paths. It looked like a…

"Welcome to the Maze of Mayhem!" Don announced, as he walked. "This is where today's challenge will take place." They soon reached the entranceway to the maze. Standing next to it, was a very tired looking Chef. Don smirked and looked at him. "Everything good to go?"

Chef glared. "Yeah…" He said coldly.

Don's smile did not falter. "Alright, then. You're done for the day." Chef, though still grumpy, gladly took the opportunity and walked away. Don turned his attention back to the competitors. "Now, as you probably figured, this challenge will be a maze. But not like the one you'd expect." He pointed. The competitors looked to see a wooden flag pole, standing just outside the entrance. "That right there is what six of you will be looking for. You'll start at the other end of the maze, and work your way over here."

"What kind of movie challenge is this?" Noah asked.

Don pointed at him. "Good question. Today's movie challenge is all about a rivalry that's lasted for many decades. That being cops...versus robbers. The six who will start at the other end will be the robbers, trying to get to the flagpole. The remaining three will start at this end, and will have to try and tag the robbers. You'll, of course, be the cops. If you tag someone, or reach the flagpole, you'll gain immunity from tonight's elimination."

The competitors nodded, most looking excited for this challenge. Most notably, Duncan.

**Confessional (Duncan): **He still looked excited. "Oh, this is a competition made for me. Whether I'm a cop or a robber, I know exactly how to catch, and to avoid someone when I have to." His excitement faded, once he realized something. "I mean...I wouldn't ever be excited to be a cop. Like I said...don't like cops..." He said this last part quietly.

Static

"Now to split you guys up. " Don went on. "The six competitors who will be our robbers are...Noah, Gwen, Samey, Mike, Zoey and...Duncan." The Ex-Con's grin only widened. "But now for the interesting part." Don went to the flagpole and reached into a nearby box. He pulled out a pair of...handcuffs. "We're gonna split the six of you into duos, by handcuffing you together. Take these off, and your team is disqualified."

The Ex-Con's previous smile, turned to a frown. "Damnit." He whispered.

Nearby, Amy gave a small sigh of relief, thinking her role would be easier. Soon enough, Don started handing out the cuffs to the six robbers, and told them to head to the other end of the maze.

* * *

As Don walked the six designated robbers to the other side of the maze, Amy looked over at Jo.

The Jockette was still glaring daggers at the Traitorous Twin.

**Confessional (Amy): **"Now that I don't have Jo on my side anymore, I have to actually…" she shuddered. "...do this challenge on my own."

Static

"Alright, here's the plan," Jo announced, and looked at Sanders. "You and I are going inside the maze," then she looked at Amy. "And you're staying here, you Chump Leader."

Amy gulped. "But you need my help to find the robbers."

Jo just laughed. "I'll find all six of them in less than five minutes." She leaned in closer to the Twin. "And no way am I letting you get the chance at immunity."

Now Amy was getting increasingly nervous. "B-But if I wait here, they'll just run into me."

"Like I said, they're not getting past me."

Amy was about to say something, hoping Jo wouldn't wring her neck, when Sanders spoke up. "If you guys are having trouble deciding, I'll wait here."

Jo turned to the Cadet. "No way. Little Miss Traitor is gonna stay right here."

Sanders wasn't convinced. "She'll just walk into the maze, after you leave. Plus, I'm pretty sure the one person who has the advantage in a game of cops and robbers...is the cop."

Jo didn't say anything at first.

**Confessional (Jo): **"I hate to admit it, but that cop has a point. Not like I'm gonna tell her though."

Static

"Whatever." Jo grumbled. "But if you do anything to get in my way." She glared at Amy. "I'm gonna make an indent on every wall in that maze...with your face."

Amy tried to not look intimidated, but couldn't stop shaking.

* * *

The six robbers, now handcuffed to their respective partners, were at the other end of the maze. No one seemed particularly excited for the challenge. One wasn't even concentrating.

"Are you sure you're ready for this?" Gwen looked at her partner, Mike. He didn't answer, which just made Gwen look more worried.

Samey would've said something to her partner, Duncan, but he had a large scowl plastered on his face, and was darting glares at her constantly.

Noah and Zoey didn't say anything, to each other, at first. But soon enough, Noah gave an awkward smile. "Go team," he said, dully.

Zoey couldn't help but chuckle a little, though when she saw Mike, she stopped. Noah noticed this.

Don looked at his watch, and picked up a walkie talkie. "Alright everyone," He said, through the device. From the other side, the designated cops could hear him through a small speaker. "All competitors will enter the maze at the same time. Remember, you gain immunity by either tagging a robber, or, for the robbers, reaching the end and grabbing the flag pole." He paused, while the competitors readied themselves.

"Get ready...Begin!"

Duncan immediately ran into the maze, pulling Samey by her wrist in the process. The Twin nearly fell on the ground but caught herself in time. They soon disappeared behind the corner. The other four entered too, though not as hectic.

* * *

On the other side, Amy and Jo had just run into the maze, from two different entrances. Sanders sat at the flag. Amy was in hysterics as she ran through the maze.

**Confessional (Amy): **She grabbed her hair, still in a panic. "If I don't find anyone, they're gonna gang up on me and send me home." She groaned. "This sucks."

**Confessional (Sanders): **She looked confused. "I don't really get why we all don't wait at the flagpole. Don never said we couldn't and all we'd be doing is waiting for the others to walk into us." She considered what she was saying. "Yet again, if it means I don't have to deal with Jo and Amy, I'm fine with it."

Static.

Jo was a lot of focused. Maybe a little too focused. She picked up the pace, as she turned a corner...and ended face planting into a wall. She groaned and turned back. She found another entranceway, turned another corner...and smacked into another wall. The Jockette rubbed her forehead, and put her hand against the nearby wall. She probably shouldn't have, as the wall was actually a trap door, that opened where Jo had her hand placed. She ended up falling sideways into it. Another groan was heard.

* * *

On the other side, the handcuffed pair of Noah and Zoey were making their way through the maze. They weren't in any rush, though. Noah was walking and Zoey was…

Noah looked over at the Indie Chick. She was clearly not paying attention, and looking down at the ground. The Brainiac took note of it, and stopped. Since Zoey wasn't looking, she continued to walk. When she felt the snag, she stopped and turned around.

"Alright. What's wrong?" Noah asked bluntly.

Zoey stammered. "I- What are you-"

"Is it about your boyfriend?"

Zoey froze, shocked by the question. Especially since it came from Noah, of all people. She finally found her voice. "H-How did you know?"

Noah gave a dull look. "It's obvious. He's been acting weird around me too. Do you wanna discuss it?"

Zoey again paused, still confused over what was happening. "No offense Noah, but why do you care?"

Her partner sighed. "Two reasons. You're clearly not in the right state of mind, and I'm not a good runner. If either of us want to avoid being tagged, we _both _need to be focused." He thought for a moment, giving a slightly awkward look. "Also, I might need a few brownie points from the people that thought I was only being nice to Jasmine." He looked at Zoey. "So do you wanna sit and talk? It's probably gonna be a while until someone finds us."

Zoey was still processing what was going on. She didn't hate Noah, but hadn't talked with him much, so for him to offer to talk with her about what was going on with Mike was...not what she expected. But soon enough, she relaxed. "Sure...I'd actually like that."

Noah returned the smile, and the two sat down.

* * *

Jo was still having trouble navigating through the maze. She kept putting her hands on the walls, trying to find a trap door. When she finally did, she didn't realize how sensitive the door was and it suddenly opened, sending the Jockette tumbling forward and onto the floor.

Meanwhile, Samey was having an even tougher time getting through the maze. She hadn't said or done much, because Duncan had been dragging them along. Her wrist was already starting to hurt. She had tried saying something, but Duncan either didn't hear her, or was ignoring her. Judging by what had happened during the elimination ceremony, Samey figured it was the latter.

On another side, Gwen and Mike were also making their way through the maze. Neither of them had said much to each other. Gwen remembered her talk with Zoey, and she figured that...well, now was as good a time as any.

"So what's going on between you and Zoey?" She asked suddenly.

This threw off Mike slightly. He stammered. "I- I- What are you-"

"Don't try to deny it." Gwen cut off, stopping in her tracks. "I talked with Zoey last night. You really hurt her feelings."

"_Her _feelings?!" Mike sputtered, also stopping. "What about my feelings?"

Gwen raised an eyebrow. "What about them?"

"Zoey wasn't supposed to vote for Amy…" He stopped himself, considering his next words. Finally, he sighed. "...She was supposed to vote for Duncan."

Gwen was puzzled. "Why would she vote against Duncan?"

Mike again froze, debating if he should tell Gwen about his suspicions. But now he pretty much backed himself into a corner. He gave a long sigh, and made his choice. "I-I think she might be going behind my back and...and...I think she and Duncan are dating."

Gwen stared blankly. She was wide eyed, and wasn't moving. Mike was confused, and was about to ask, until she started...laughing. Hard. Like, really hard.

Mike was surprised, but also worried that someone might hear them. Indeed, someone had heard them. Jo stopped suddenly and turned. The laugher didn't sound far, and she took off in the direction of the sound.

* * *

"And then he wanted me to eliminate Duncan for some reason." Zoey sighed. "I think he's still mad at me for not doing it." Noah nodded. The two had been sitting in the same place from earlier. Thankfully, no one had found them yet. Zoey had just finished explaining what had happened since Mike came back. " I don't get why Mike would want me to do something like that. Duncan's my friend."

Noah raised an eyebrow.

**Confessional (Noah): **"Does Mike _seriously _think Duncan and Zoey are dating behind his back?" He chuckled. "And how has Zoey not figured it out?" He pondered for a moment. "I don't know if I should tell her though. She might not believe it. But maybe I can help her solve it for herself." He eyed the camera. "You guys see me being helpful? I wasn't just doing this for Jasmine, right?"

Static

"Well I…" Noah paused. "I...have no idea what's going on with him. But if you ask me, you should probably talk to him."

Zoey looked worried. "I don't know if he wants to talk to me though."

"Doesn't matter." Noah interjected. "Believe me, I've seen enough relationships fail because of poor communication. Talk to him, ask him what's wrong and hopefully you can work from there."

Zoey thought about it. She wasn't sure if she wanted to find out the reason for Mike's weird behavior. But at the same time, Noah had a point. She looked up at him and gave a small smile. "Alright, I'll do it."

Noah returned a dull grin and the two stood up. Suddenly they heard a loud noise. It sounded like someone running into a metal wall. Judging by the sheer force of the sound, it seemed to be.

"Jo." Noah and Zoey said at the same time.

The Brainiac turned to his partner. "Let's get going. I might have an idea on how to get past her."

Zoey nodded.

Noah was about to head off, but felt his handcuff snag. He looked back at Zoey, who was smiling at him. "Thanks, by the way. That really helped."

Noah smirked again, and the two went down the corner.

**Confessional (Zoey): **"Wow." She said, surprised. "Noah is...surprisingly nice. Like...not that I thought he wasn't nice, just that...it's a type of niceness you don't expect." Her smile soon fell. "But he's right. I need to talk to Mike about what's going on. Whether he, or I, like it."

Static.

* * *

Gwen was still laughing, while Mike pulled her along. Jo wasn't too close, but she had no trouble following them. Mike was desperate to find an escape, and he quickly examined the hallway. He saw a trap door that was slightly opened. Frantically, he opened it, went through it, with Gwen in tow, and closed it. Jo soon ran by, unaware of what just happened.

On the other side of the wall, Mike had his hand pressed against Gwen's mouth. He waited a few more seconds, until he was sure Jo was gone. He looked at the Goth, who was still laughing.

"Can you please stop laughing?" Mike whispered.

Gwen nodded, as Mike released her hand. She was trying her best to hide her laughter, as she stood up. Mike glared at her. "Why are you laughing? What's so funny?"

"You're an idiot." Gwen said blunty, slightly smiling.

"What?" Mike was shocked. "How am I-"

"Zoey is, in no way shape or form, dating Duncan."

Mike wanted to believe it, but wasn't sure. "How do you know? Duncan was involved in that huge love triangle in season three. You should remember."

Gwen wasn't phased. "I remember. But you're forgetting about Zoey." Mike was confused, and about to say something, but Gwen went on. "Your girlfriend would never cheat on you. She missed you so much while you were gone. She was so upset you were eliminated that she nearly hit me in the face." Mike was about to say something, but Gwen cut him off. "Don't ask. My point is, she has no intentions of dating Duncan. Besides, he…" Gwen stopped, remembering her talk from last night.

Mike raised an eyebrow. "He what?"

Gwen snapped out of her trance, and quickly thought of something. "He has no interest with Zoey either. At least, nothing more than being friends. Trust me, Zoey wouldn't go behind your back like that."

Mike suddenly felt a weight lifted off his shoulders. He found himself smiling. "Thanks, Gwen that really…" He noticed Gwen's uncomfortable stare. "What's wrong?"

The Goth sighed. "Mike. You do realize you're gonna have to tell Zoey about this, right?"

Mike's smile fell. "Well, maybe I don't have to…"

"Yes you do." Gwen cut off. "You were wrong, and you hurt your girlfriend. The least you can do is tell her the truth." She could see Mike's nervous look. "I know it's gonna be hard, but trust me, it's better than lying."

Mike didn't say anything. He didn't want to admit it, but Gwen was right. He knew this would hurt him, and possibly his relationship, but he knew it was the right thing to do. With a heavy sigh, the duo headed towards the entrance of the maze.

* * *

Sanders was still at the pole. No one had run by, and she hadn't heard anything. With no interruptions, Sanders had a lot of time to think. And, of course, all that was on her mind was a certain green-haired competitor.

**Confessional (Sanders): **She sighed. "I really hope Duncan wins this challenge. I'm not sure how much he liked our talk with what happened at the elimination ceremony." She pondered to herself. "Macarthur would probably hate me for this, but if it comes down to it, I'll let myself lose, if it means he gets the win."

Static.

By this point, Samey was tired of being pulled by Duncan. Her wrist was starting to hurt, but all her complaints had fallen on deaf ears. Duncan was completely focused on the challenge, only offering a few commands, such as "come on" or "keep up."

The two rounded another corner, and at that moment, Duncan saw Amy run through the hallway in front of them, having not seen them. Duncan stopped in his tracks, and ran the other way. Problem was, he had turned too quickly. Samey didn't have time to react and ended up falling forward, landing on her knee. Duncan felt the snag and looked back. "Get up." He ordered.

Samey started to stand up. "I'm…" She was about to pick up her right knee, when she went wide eyed. "Ow…" She grabbed her knee with her free hand.

"You need to stand up." Duncan said quietly. He started walking down the corner again.

Samey tried to follow, but could only hobble on her left leg. She winced in pain. "Please...I can't keep going like this."

Duncan turned, now looking angry. "I said we-" He stopped. He could see Samey still clutching her right knee, as well as her pained expression. It suddenly dawned on Duncan just how badly he was acting. He went by Samey's side and put her arm around his shoulder. They slowly made their way back, and Duncan sat her down. The two waited in awkward silence, Samey still checking her knee. The Ex-Con looked at her. "I-"

"What is your problem?" Samey demanded, looking more hurt than angry. "First, you ignored me and now this." She pointed at her knee. "I mean, I thought you wanted to win this and-" She stopped, suddenly realizing something. She looked up at Duncan. "Is this about my sister?"

Duncan didn't say anything for a bit. He was still feeling guilty over what happened. After a while, he gave his answer. "...Yeah, kinda." He scratched the back of his head. "After what she did last night I…" He looked angry again. "Well, I'm pissed over it. She manipulated me, and I-"

"She made you feel like crap, right?" Samey interrupted.

Duncan was caught off-guard. He looked at the Twin, in front of him. "Wha-"

"Don't forget that I lived with her. She has made my life miserable, and what she did to you is nothing compared to what she's done to me since we were kids." She frowned and mumbled to herself. "After we turned six…"

Duncan was about to ask what that meant, but figured they had spent too much time talking. He looked around, and leaned towards her. "Look, I'm sorry about hurting your knee. But we need to go now. Even if you're injured."

Samey sighed. "I don't think it's that bad, but I can't walk right now." She looked up at her partner. "Do you think you can carry me?"

Duncan nodded, and started to help her up.

**Confessional (Duncan): **He looked surprised, but also impressed. "Wow. I didn't think Samey hated her sister as much as I do." He paused. "Ok, she probably hates her more...but I gotta say I got mad respect for Samey for asserting herself like that. That takes guts."

**Confessional (Samey): **She was heavily breathing, in and out, through a paper bag. "Ok…" she gasped. "I lied. THAT was the scariest thing I've ever done." After a few more breaths, she relaxed and smiled. "But man...this 'being assertive thing' has been so rewarding. I don't get why I never did it before."

Static.

* * *

Amy was still searching, in a desperate attempt to find someone. She had no idea where she was, and couldn't figure out where anyone else was. Her best attempt was to find someone, right then and there. She turned at another corner, and came to a dead end. She groaned and headed back to another path.

Suddenly she could hear footsteps coming towards her. She looked down the hallway, and came up with an idea. She put her hands against the wall, and was happy to find a trap door. She had what she needed.

Noah and Zoey rounded another corner, and came to the two branching paths. They were about to turn, but they stopped.

"What the…" Noah raised an eyebrow.

The hallway they were about to enter had a trap door that was left slightly open. Noah watched it suspiciously. Zoey didn't.

"Maybe that trapdoor can help us." She said.

Noah shook his head. "Someone could be waiting for us behind that door. That's probably why they left it open." He looked down the other path. "I say we go down this way." Zoey figured Noah was right, and the two headed down the hallway. They rounded the corner and were met with…"What? It's a dead end." Noah was flabbergasted. They turned around, and were about to head back, when Amy suddenly dropped in front of them and tagged Zoey in the shoulder.

The Twin grinned evilly. Noah was still processing what just happened.

"Where the heck did you come from?" Amy just pointed up. Noah looked where she was pointing. Noticing the distance between the two walls. _She must have climbed up there. _Noah thought. _She was waiting for us._ He groaned in annoyance, and looked back down at the still smirking Twin.

They suddenly heard a noise from behind them. Jo had just rounded the same corner. She was shocked to see everyone who was there. She looked at Amy and realized she had gotten to the robbers first. The Jockette groaned and headed in the other direction. Amy just watched gleefully.

* * *

Because of her minor injury, Samey was now being carried, piggyback style, by Duncan, through the maze. They hadn't run into anyone...yet. The two ran through a hallway. At a perpendicular hallway, Jo ran through as well. She didn't realize she had just passed them, until it was too late. She groaned in frustration, knowing she would be on the chopping block, if she didn't find anyone.

Her best plan was, she figured, to head back to the flagpole and wait for the other robbers to come to her. And that's exactly what she was going to do.

* * *

Gwen and Mike were still navigating their way through the maze. Like Duncan and Samey they hadn't run into anyone. They passed a corner, and could see a little bit of light coming through. They were nearing the exit. They rounded the next corner, and the next, getting closer and closer to the light. They were just about to reach the final corner, when Jo suddenly appeared from the other side. The three locked eyes, frozen. Gwen and Mike quickly went the way they just came, while Jo ran after them. They took the corner when…

WHAM

Mike and Gwen fell back from the sudden impact. They looked up and saw Duncan, still carrying Samey on his back. The Ex-Con was rubbing his head. Gwen and Zoey were about to get up, when they both suddenly felt a hand touch their backs.

"Got ya!" Jo exclaimed in delight.

The Goth and the Ex-MPD groaned. But Jo's celebration was cut short, when she realized Samey and Duncan were now gone. Acting quickly, she ran past Mike and Gwen and headed in the direction she thought they were going.

* * *

Sanders was slowly starting to nod off. No one had reached the flagpole. She saw Jo run by earlier, but that was it. She was about to completely close her eyes, when she heard footsteps. She awaited whoever it was, and braced herself. From the entrance, Duncan and Samey suddenly appeared. The Cadet was caught off-guard by the fact that Duncan was carrying the Twin. The Ex-Con also froze. Soon, they all heard footsteps coming towards them. Samey was worried, but Duncan looked at Sanders. To the Cadet, it looked like he was pleading with her.

Sanders wasn't sure what to do, but made her decision. She walked forward, and suddenly fell to the side. Duncan and Samey stared. Sanders looked back at them, and she nodded her head towards the flagpole. Realizing what she was doing, Duncan ran forward. Jo had just appeared from the corner. Duncan suddenly tripped and fell forward. Samey realized how close they were to the pole, and reached for it. Jo took a few steps towards them. As Duncan fell to the ground, Samey kept reaching. Jo was about to tag the duo, but Samey finally touched the pole. They were safe.

"Game over!" Don announced, as he walked up to the competitors. "And what a game it was. Congratulations to all of you." He paused, letting some of them sigh in relief. "Jo, Duncan and Samey. You three are safe from elimination."

Duncan and Samey stood up, relieved, but Jo was confused. "So does that mean..?"

"Oh, right. Amy tagged Gwen and Noah earlier, so she's also safe."

The three immune competitors groaned. Soon enough, Amy, Noah, Zoey, Mike and Gwen all made their way to the entrance. Jo walked up to Sanders.

"What happened?" She asked. "They ran right into you. How did you not get them?"

Sanders thought for a second. "Oh...I was…" She thought of a lie. "I guess they just got the best of me. I was tired and they...took advantage of it."

Jo wasn't sure, but didn't care enough to ask, much to the Cadet's relief.

Samey was able to walk under her own power, and thanked Duncan for carrying her.

The Ex-Con scratched the back of his head. "Yeah...sorry for the knee thing, again."

Samey just smiled. "It's alright. No worries."

The Ex-Con nodded, then looked over at Mike and Noah. They didn't have any immunity, and he worried that he could lose one of them.

* * *

Later, the competitors were relaxing before the elimination ceremony. Amy walked into the girls trailer. She froze, once she saw who was in it already. Jo was standing in the middle of the room, while Zoey and Gwen were sitting on a nearby bed. Amy gulped, as she saw Jo walk up to her. "You got lucky." The Jockette shot a nasty finger at the twin. "But you are not going to last long because I'm going to-"

"Wait." Amy put her hands up. "I know you're mad, but you need to hear what I have to say. It's about who we should eliminate next" Jo was still angry, but Amy could see she was curious. She went on. "I can't vote for you, and you can't vote for me. But you saw what happened last night, right? The guys ganged up to vote me off."

"Why is that a bad thing?" Jo growled.

Amy quickly came up with a response. "Once they get rid of me, what's stopping them from voting you, or any of the other girls off. They don't have the advantage now, but they will if we let them." She stopped. Jo tried to hide how she felt, but Amy could see she was buying it.

The Jockette grumbled. "Fine. Who did you have in mind?"

The Twin was surprised, but acted like she wasn't. She grinned, and looked at Zoey and Gwen. Amy knew they were listening. "If we're voting off one of the guys, I know exactly who it should be…" And she started to explain.

* * *

Later, The Indie Chick walked out of the girls trailer. Jo and Amy's talk about who to eliminate was playing on her mind. But she didn't want to think about it. Her thoughts were immediately thrown off, when she saw Mike walking out towards his trailer. The two suddenly locked eyes in an awkward moment. Then they walked up to each other. A few moments of silence followed, before anyone said anything.

"Mike." Zoey started. "I-"

"Zoey, I'm really sorry about how I've been acting." Mike cut off. "It's been really tough not seeing you, and...I feel terrible over what I told you. It wasn't right of me, and I'm sorry."

Zoey tried not to smile. Secretly, she felt very relieved that Mike had apologized again. But she also knew that she had to find out what had been going on. She took a deep breath and started. "Mike...I appreciate the apology but…" She closed her eyes, before opening them again. "I need to know why you've been acting like this. Is it a new personality or...something else?"

Mike's face fell. He still didn't want to ask the question, but also didn't want to lie to his girlfriend. He made his decision on what to say. "Zoey...I uh...the reason I've been acting so weird lately is because…" He took a deep breath. "I thought you were cheating on me...with Duncan." He said, feeling nervous.

Zoey was completely thrown off. Of all the things that she had expected Mike to say, that was definitely not on the list. "What?" Zoey responded, still flabbergasted. "I...No! He's just a friend. He's nice, but I'm not interested in dating him."

Mike let out a huge sigh of relief, which just made Zoey look even more dumbfounded. "Thank goodness," He smiled. "Now everything can go back to normal." He leaned in for a kiss on the cheek, but Zoey pulled away. Mike stepped back, confused. "What's wrong?"

Zoey looked at him, disappointment in her eyes. "Mike...why would you think I would cheat on you?"

Mike froze, not sure how to answer. "Well...we're talking about Duncan, right? He cheated on his girlfriend once."

"But _this_ isn't like that." Zoey said, the betrayal plastered on her face. "I would never, in a million years, go behind your back like that. But...you thought _I _would?"

Mike suddenly realized just how bone-headed of an assumption he made. "Zoey I-"

Zoey put her hand up, silencing him. "Mike...I don't know why you think everything is ok...because it isn't. Not in the slightest."

"Nononono." Mike pleaded. "It was a stupid thing for me to think you would cheat on me. I'm really sorry. It's the dumbest thing I've ever done and I'll never live it down."

As Mike rambled, Zoey turned away. Mike stopped talking. He couldn't see Zoey's face, but he was certain she was crying. He was right. "Mike…" Zoey choked. "I don't want to be around you right now." She started walking away, tears streaming down her face. "I think we need to spend some time apart."

Mike's heart sank. Thankfully, his assumptions were wrong. But now, he was in a worse situation than he ever could've imagined.

* * *

In the guys trailer, Duncan and Noah sat on the beds across from each other.

"So who should we vote for?" Noah asked.

"Not sure," Duncan sighed. "I wish we could eliminate that stupid cheerleader. But she's safe and we only have three choices." He looked up at Noah. "Our best chance is for all three of us to vote together."

Noah agreed, and was about to make a suggestion, when Mike walked in. The Spikey-Haired competitor looked miserable. He trudged his way to his bed, letting his body fall onto it, face planting on the pillow. Duncan and Noah were surprised by his entrance, and weren't sure what to say.

Soon, Noah found his voice. "Um…I assume we're not voting for Zoey." He said, loud enough for Mike to hear.

The only response he got was a muffled groan. The Ex-Con and the Brainiac looked at each other, still confused. "We'll take that as a yes." Noah figured. "So that just leaves Sanders and Gwen." He frowned. "Honestly I feel bad for eliminating either one of them." He looked again at Duncan. "What do you think?"

Duncan thought. Noah waited for his response. _How hard of a decision is this? _He thought. Soon, Duncan looked up, giving an uncomfortable look. "Alright…" He said quietly. "I know who we'll vote for."

* * *

Samey had just walked out of the girls trailer, wearing her blue sports bra and grey sweatpants. She was preparing to go on a long jog.

**Confessional (Samey): **"So now that I'm by myself, I need to be ready for anything. This game is just gonna get harder and I can't fall behind." She gave an uncharacteristic smirk. "No way I'm letting my sister get to me this time."

Static

The Confident Twin started stretching, when she heard footsteps from behind her. She turned, and saw Jo, coming down the steps of the trailer. Samey felt herself tense up, remembering what happened last night. "You going for a run?" Jo asked casually.

Samey froze, noting that Jo wasn't upset at her. She eased up. "Yeah. I'm about to.. ." She said, skeptical.

Jo grinned. "Good. I'm looking to beat someone at something. So tell ya what." She pointed at the nearby trees. "You and I have a little race around the set." She pointed at the ground. "First one back here wins. What do ya say?"

Samey thought for a second. She actually liked the idea. It would be a good challenge, and Jo would be an excellent opponent. But Samey wasn't _just_ trying to challenge herself, she was also trying to be more assertive. With that in mind, she looked at Jo and smiled.

"No thanks."

Jo froze, absolutely shocked and mouth agape. Without saying anything else, Samey waved and began her jog, leaving Jo behind, still dumbfounded.

Did she just say...no?

* * *

At the elimination ceremony, everyone was sitting on the bleachers. Zoey and Mike were noticeably sitting apart from each other. Amy also had a devilish grin, while she looked at Duncan. They had already cast their votes, and Don was looking at the envelope. "Interesting…" He said. "Very interesting." He put the letter down, and looked at the competitors. "Now I got a little surprise for all of you." He snapped his finger. Chef appeared, in his pink dress, carrying a platter of golden statues. Upon closer inspection, they weren't the usual gilded Chris statues, they were…

"These are the gilded Dons." The host announced proudly. He picked one up. "Since Chris still isn't back yet, we'll be using these for the time being." He started shaking it around, right in front of Chef's face. The Co-host just grumbled, which Don noticed and smirked. He then turned his attention back to the competitors. "The rules are still the same with them. Receive a statue and you're safe. If you don't, you'll be eliminated." He picked up a second statue. "Let's start with our immune competitors. Duncan, Amy, Samey and Jo. All of you won immunity and are safe."

He tossed each statue one-by-one to the competitors. They all caught them, but three of them were definitely annoyed that a certain cheerleader was also safe. Don continued. "And the next statue goes to…" He eyed the remaining competitors, most of whom looked pretty nervous. "...Zoey." He tossed the statue. The Indie Chick sighed in relief. Now Don looked between Gwen and Sanders. The two eyed each other. The Host didn't say anything for a bit, teasing for dramatic attention.

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"You know what?" Don put the statue down on the podium. "I wanna keep these two for myself. One for my trailer, and one to put with the rest of my rewards." He smiled to himself, then looked at the three remaining competitors. "If I call your name, you're going home." He paused. "Mike." he pointed. The Spikey-Haired competitor jumped, but Don wasn't done. "You've certainly lost a lot of popularity since coming back. I can think of at least one competitor that might not want to see you anymore." Mike looked down, knowing exactly who he was referring to. "Noah," Don continued. "You've made a significant improvement this season. You finally made the merge and you've proved yourself to be a smart and cunning competitor."

Noah smiled, feeling a sense of pride.

Jo scoffed, next to him. "Host's pet…" She mumbled.

"But that could be considered a threat to everyone else." Finally, Don looked at Gwen. "And that just leaves our resident Goth." Gwen tried to stay calm, but was incredibly nervous. "Gwen, I'm not really sure what to say about you. You've played well so far, managed to avoid most of the drama and stay away from any boy trouble...not saying you won't be the one going though." Gwen gulped, as Don pointed his finger to the sky. He closed his eyes. "The competitor that will be leaving the competition is…"

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"...Noah."

The Brainiac gasped, while Mike and Gwen exhaled. It took a moment for Noah to register what just happened. All the hard work to get the finale, all the time he spent trying to fix himself in the eyes of his fellow competitors and all the times he pushed himself to win...was all for nothing.

He looked around at the other competitors, taking note of the guilty expressions on Zoey and Gwen's face.

"Sorry, Noah." Gwen said quietly.

"Nothing personal." Zoey sighed. "We didn't really have much of a choice."

Noah sighed sadly. "It's fine. I get it." He glanced over at Amy, who was looking very proud of herself. With not much else to say, Noah got up and walked towards the Lamo-O-Sine.

"Smell ya later, Brain Boy." Jo called.

Don watched him. "I gotta say, Noah." He said, looking slightly disappointed. "I'm sad to see you go." He got off the stage and walked towards him. Don extended his hand, which Noah gladly shook. "Any parting words?"

Noah thought for a moment. "Well...I guess it was kinda cool that I was viewed as a threat." He shrugged, then looked at the other competitors, then back to Don. "To be honest, I kinda wished I did better than ninth." Don chuckled. "But I still did pretty good for a scrawny smart guy who can't do a single push up."

Don nodded at this. "Well, you'll definitely be missed."

Noah gave a small smile, and waved to his ex-competitors. Most of them waved back. "Tell your girlfriend we said hi." Gwen called.

Noah smiled again, as he entered the lame-o-sine, which took him away and out of the competition. Once he was out of sight, Don looked at the camera.

"And with that...Noah is out. But no one can say his run wasn't eventful. Eight remain, but only one can come away with the five million dollars. Who's it gonna be? We still have a few more to go, so find out who it _won't _be...on the next exciting episode of...Total...Drama...Legends!"

* * *

Late at night, a shadowy figure stood in a darkly lit, and cramped room. The room was also filled with other figures. They were revealed to be...the interns. The big figure stepped forward, revealing himself to be...Chef. He looked down. He was staring at a table that had blue prints and small wooden figures on them. He looked back at the interns. "Now you're all probably wondering why I brought you here…"

The interns looked at each other, no one having an answer.

"We need to exterminate the disease that is riddled within Total Drama. For too long, we've had to deal with this man's arrogance and ego."

"Are you talking about Chris?" A fat intern asked. "Hasn't he been gone for a while?"

Chef glared at the kid. "No, you idiot. I'm talking about-" He saw a skinny intern reaching for one of the statues. Chef quickly slapped the intern's hand away, and cleared his throat. "I'm talkin' about one thing…and that's getting rid...of Don."

* * *

**Yay! Two weeks, and this chapter is out. This one was a bit shorter than my last few, but I like how it came out. This was a lot of fun, and a lot easier, to write. As for Noah...sorry to say, but this was as far as he was gonna go. I loved writing him and his journey and I honestly didn't think I would get this much out of him. He will be missed, I'm sure of it. Let me know what you thought of the chapter, and...as always…peace be with ya!**

* * *

Merge: Amy, Duncan, Gwen, Jo, Mike, Samey, Sanders and Zoey

Robbers:

Duncan & Samey

Gwen & Mike

Noah & Zoey

Cops:

Jo, Amy and Sanders

Placement:

22nd: Sierra

21st: Lightning

20th: Tyler

19th: Cody

18th: Heather

17th: Alejandro

16th: Owen

15th: Macarthur

14th: Scott

13th: Courtney

12th: Dawn

11th: Jasmine

10th: Leshawna

9th: Noah

Votes:

Noah: Amy, Jo, Gwen, Zoey

Mike: Samey, Sanders

Gwen: Duncan, Noah, Mike


	19. When Interns Attack

**Thank you for the reviews from the last chapter. Remember to leave one for this chapter, once you're done reading it. PLEASE, I love hearing from you guys and the reviews really keep me going.**

**This chapter's gonna be a little shorter than usual. Not by much, but still. With that in mind, I'd like to ask a few questions regarding the last chapter, that I was hoping people would talk more about.**

**What did you think of Duncan and Sanders' talk at the beginning?**

**What about Zoey and Noah's little conversation in the maze? **

**Thank you, and please enjoy**

* * *

**Matinas: Yup, Mike is still here. Let's see for how much longer.**

**Womanlikemegan: Well, that's what I was aiming for.**

**Whattheheck23: Thank you. And no I don't hate Mike. He isn't my personal favorite though, I'll admit that. Let me know if you have a better idea where my story is going, after this chapter.**

**Infinity Wizard: Great hearing from you, as always. **

* * *

"Welcome back to Total Drama Legends, here's what you missed." Don paused for a moment. "...Everything. The competitors fought for immunity in our cops and robbers movie themed challenge. Amy, once again, had her back against the wall, with two very vengeful competitors gunning for her (Duncan and Jo). It was an all out race to the finish, with four lucky competitors (Duncan, Samey, Jo and Amy) taking the win. Unfortunately for the three dudes, Amy was able to convince the others to vote off one of the guys. In other drama related news, Mike finally admitted his suspicions about Duncan to his girlfriend. Unfortunately, he may not be calling her that for long. Speaking of relationships, we may have seen the next step in the unlikely pairing of Duncan and Sanders. Ultimately, the girls agreed to vote off Noah, ending the Brainiac's memorable run."

The camera flashed to reveal Don sitting in a darkly lit room, with several TVs in front of him. "Am I showing a little bias? Probably, but I don't care. I liked the guy." Don looked around the room, looking annoyed. "Where is Chef? He was supposed to be here twenty minutes ago." He turned his attention back to the camera, and flashed his traditional smile. "He'll probably show up later. Trust me, he does not want to miss what we have in store. We have one of the most action-packed, heart pounding, jaw dropping challenges in Total Drama history. And it's coming your way...right here...on Total...Drama...L...egends! But seriously, where is he?"

* * *

Mike sat solemnly on the side of his bed. Duncan had been pacing around the trailer, clearly frustrated. The Spikey-Haired competitors looked up at him.

**Confessional (Mike): **He sighed sadly. "I really screwed up. Now Zoey doesn't even want to see me." He sat in silence for a moment. "I guess I kinda deserve it. I just hope she doesn't break things off." He gulped. "Unless she already has…"

Static.

"Ok, we're in trouble." Duncan began, not breaking his pace. "If the girls voted off Noah, they probably realize they can just vote either of us off, whenever they want." Mike kept watching him pace back and forth. "We can probably convince some of them to not vote for us, but I don't think it'll last." He sat on the bed, across from Mike, and sighed.

Mike looked at the downcast Ex-Con. "Hey, Duncan…" The Green-haired competitor looked up. Mike scratched the back of his head. "I just wanted to say...that I'm...sorry."

Duncan looked confused. "What? What are you-" Then he went wide eyed and stood up. "Wait. Did you not vote with us? Is that why Noah got eliminated?"

Mike defensively held up his hands. "No. I voted with you guys. I'm talking about something else."

Duncan exhaled, and eased up. "Alright, what's up?"

Mike took a deep breath. "Ever since I came back," He turned away. "And even before that…" He looked back at Duncan. "I was...worried that Zoey was cheating on me...with you." Duncan gave a confused expression, not sure how to process what was just said. Mike went on. "I recently found out I was wrong and...I wanted to apologize for thinking it."

Duncan didn't say anything. He looked more confused than angry, which made Mike feel a little better. Finally the Ex-Con snapped out of his trance. "Umm...It's all good…I guess." He left the trailer without a word.

Mike felt a little better, but he knew he still had a long hole to dig himself out of.

* * *

Gwen was now in a familiar position. For the second time now, she was in the girls trailer, trying to comfort her sniffling friend.

"I didn't think he would ever lose trust in me," Zoey croacked. She sniffed again, and wiped her eyes. "Being apart for so long really did a number on our relationship…"

Gwen couldn't help but look a little guilty. She put her hand behind her head. "Ummm…" Zoey looked at her. "I...talked to Mike about what was going on, and I...I kinda told him that he should talk to you about it." She gathered her thoughts for a moment. "I'm sorry if this ends up damaging your relationship."

Zoey looked away. Gwen could see her face, but was hoping her friend wasn't upset with her. Eventually, the Indie Chick exhaled. "It's fine, Gwen." She turned to look at her. "I don't blame you for what happened. Mike should've talked to me." She stood up, still looking downcast. "I'm gonna go for a walk and clear my head."

Gwen gave a sad smile. "You want me to come with?"

Zoey shook her head. "I'd like to be alone for this."

Gwen nodded. Without another word, Zoey walked out of the trailer.

Once Zoey exited, it was revealed that Jo was sitting on the bed just across from the two. She had a scowl on her face, as she stared at the ground.

**Confessional (Jo): **"That lame brain cheerleader got lucky. If she hadn't gotten immunity, I would've kicked her sorry butt out, no question." Her glare softened slightly. "Yet again, it was a smart move to get rid of Brain Boy. He'd been doing pretty good and…" She trailed off, realizing she was complementing Amy. She tried to shake it off. "A-And you know what? Her stupid sister is just as bad. Who does she think she is? She should be honored that someone like me would want to train with her. How much does she really think she'll get from jogging by herself?"

Static

* * *

Samey wiped the sweat off her forehead as she ran past several trees. Since there was still time before today's challenge, she decided to do some free running.

She saw a small stream up ahead, and sped up. Once she was close enough, she jumped onto a small rock with her right foot, propelling herself to the other side. Without missing a beat, she ran to the closest tree. She jumped again, reaching for a low hanging branch. With help from her cheerleading skills, she swung herself up onto the branch. She quickly checked her surroundings, and took off down the large branch. She jumped off, reaching for the branch from another tree. She held onto it, and the weight carried her to the ground. As soon as her feet landed, she took off again. Soon, she was out of the woods and on the black top. She could see the incredibly tall hill that the teams climbed, in season 2. She grinned and ran towards it. The Twin was immediately reminded of the time she climbed the sand hill in Arizona. She found herself struggling a little, but still pressed on. She intentionally ran in front of some fake rocks, only to jump right over it.

But as she ran, her mind started to wander. She couldn't help but think of what happened in the last few elimination ceremonies. _Amy's been trying to ruin my life for so long now _She thought bitterly. But her anger subsided briefly, as she sighed.

Soon enough, she reached the top. She slowed down and started to catch her breath. She took a seat on a rock and looked out beyond the film lot. The view was...big. At the bottom was just a large parking lot, followed by a few buildings in the distance. It wasn't as spectacular as the island's hill view, but she was still proud of herself.

But despite all that, she was still thinking about her sister. _What am I going to do about her?_

* * *

Don had just exited his personal trailer. He had a big smile on his face, as he headed towards the competitor's trailers.

But as he walked past a small shed, he didn't see its door creak slightly open. From inside, Chef was watching him with an evil grin on his face. He looked back at the nervous interns. "Alright, maggots, you all know the plan."

A skinny black-haired intern rubbed the back of her head. "I don't know about this."

A taller blonde-haired intern nodded his head. "Yeah. I kinda like Don, to be honest. Chris kinda scares me." Most of the other interns mumbled in agreement.

Chef angrily shot back and glared at them. "Another word like that, and I'll give you something to really be afraid of." The interns cowered. "Now, are we gonna do this, or not?" The interns looked at each other. "Answer me!" Chef yelled. The interns nodded their head profusely. Chef looked back at the door, and looked out again. He could see Don, and he gave a low chuckle.

* * *

Just outside the girls trailer, Sanders was sitting at the picnic table, alone. All she was doing was staring down, looking very annoyed, but also worried.

**Confessional (Sanders): **She had her elbows on the table. "I hope Duncan's not trying to avoid me again. I really like talking to him and…" she sighed. "He's probably against the idea of dating a cop...but yet again, Gwen said he liked me. Maybe him ignoring me is his way of showing affection?" She paused, processing what she just said. "Or...probably not…"

Static.

As the Cadet thought to herself, she suddenly realized someone had just sat down across from her. She looked up.

"You got a sec?" Gwen asked.

Sanders gave a small smile. "Sure." Then her expression faltered. "Is this about Duncan?" Gwen nodded. Sanders sighed. "I figured. Honestly, at this point, I'm still not sure if he-"

"Sanders," Gwen cut off. "Trust me when I say this, he definitely likes you."

The Cadet looked skeptical. "Are you sure, though? He hasn't said a word to me since the challenge, and...I honestly don't know if _I _want to keep trying, if he doesn't like me back."

"You make a good point," Gwen said, getting up and sitting next to her friend. "But I may know something that proves he likes you." Sanders raised an eyebrow, as Gwen explained. "Last night, I was in the bottom three. The guys obviously didn't vote for each other because of their numbers disadvantage." She paused, letting Sanders think about what that meant. "I think they all voted together. Since they couldn't vote for Amy, it would have to be between Zoey, you and me. Mike wouldn't vote for Zoey...and I don't think they voted for you either." Sanders' eyes widened. "Duncan probably told them to vote for me...because he didn't want to get rid of you...because he likes you."

Sanders was surprised, but her expression quickly changed to a wide smile. "That's wonderful." She exclaimed. Gwen gave an odd look at the Cadet. Sanders suddenly realized what she just said. "Sorry. That came out wrong."

Gwen couldn't help but laugh. "That's fine. I get it…" She looked thoughtfully at Sanders. "So what are you gonna do now?"

Sanders pondered for a moment. She looked back up at Gwen, smiling. "Well, like you said. I just gotta give him a little push."

Gwen smirked, and the two high-fived. Gwen soon stood up and walked away. Once the Goth was out of sight, Sanders thought to herself. _Only question is: how? _

* * *

Soon, Don had arrived at the trailers. Samey still hadn't arrived back, but Don didn't seem to care. He still had a big smile on his face.

"Attention, everyone." He announced. All the competitors turned to him. "I'm here to bring you to today's challenge." His smile only grew. "And I hope you're all as excited as I am because today's challenge will be unlike any other. This might be one of the craziest, but also funnest challenges you'll have ever been a part of. It will test your strengths, but I guarantee you'll enjoy every second of it." Now the competitors were getting a little excited. Since it wasn't Chris, they trusted Don. They followed him, and the group headed into the woods.

As they left, a fat intern, wearing glasses, peeked around a corner and eyed them. As the competitors walked into the trees, the intern held up a walkie-talkie and pressed the button. "They're heading your way." He said.

Chef could be heard laughing from the other end of the walkie. He told the intern to follow them, and wait for his signal.

* * *

Meanwhile, Samey was still sitting quietly at the top of the mountain set. Soon though, she figured that it was a good idea to head back. _The challenge is probably going to start soon _she thought. She stood up, and started to head down. But as she did, her mind kept racing around. And no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't get Amy out of her head.

She tried shaking it off, but to no avail. She looked to a part of the grassy hill. It looked somewhat familiar.

Then she suddenly saw two little blonde girls running down the hill. Both were wearing red and white dresses, as well as red bows in their hair. They were giggling and laughing. Suddenly the one in front tripped and fell forward. She started crying, as the other girl walked up to her. She looked concerned, and decided to give the hurt girl a big hug. It didn't work immediately but the hurt blonde girl cracked a smile and returned the hug. Soon they got back up and went back to running down the hill.

Samey looked on, and gave a small smile. But it soon fell, as she sighed sadly, and continued walking down the hill. The two girls were no longer there.

* * *

Don took the competitors, minus Samey, into the woods. He had a childlike smile on his face, and he was giddy with anticipation. He didn't even notice that Chef wasn't with him.

"You're sure excited for this." Sanders noted

Don turned to her. "Oh, you could tell?' He laughed. They soon arrived at an opening in between the trees. Don rubbed his hands. "Alright, everyone. We'll start today's challenge very soon. Like I said before, this will be like nothing you've ever faced before. But I promise it will be fun." The competitors were getting excited, as Don held his arms out. "Competitors, I would like to introduce you to, what I like to call, the-"

Don and the competitors soom walked through the opening. They were all presented with big, giant...lot of nothing. All that awaited them was an empty patch of grass. The competitors' excitement fell very quickly as they looked around. Even Don was confused.

"Ummm...Don?" said Duncan. "We were kinda expecting more than...this." The other competitors agreed.

"That's what I'd like to know." Don mumbled to himself. He looked around the empty field, before turning to face the competitors. "Has anyone seen Chef?" The competitors shrugged. Don sighed. "Alright then, I guess we'll just have to-"

"I'm right here, Donny."

The competitors looked forward, while Don turned around. There was Chef, carrying a metal bazooka under his arm. He was walking towards them with a smug smirk.

Don was a little confused, but snapped out of it. "And where have you been?" Don demanded, putting his fists to his hips. "And just what are you…" He trailed off. As Chef was walking towards him, interns started appearing from behind the trees. They were carrying a different assortment of weapons, including paintball guns, as well as the leech guns from the All-Stars season. The competitors turned around to notice even more interns appear from out of the woods. They soon realized that they were surrounded.

Don looked again at Chef, and was about to ask him what was going on, but he didn't have to.

"You see, Don." Chef grinned. "We're all tired of the way you've been acting on this show. It ain't yours, and we don't want to see you hosting it anymore." Don looked at the surrounding interns. Most of them gave awkward looks. Don took note of it, but didn't say anything. Chef continued. "So, what I'm gonna do is hold you and the show hostage until Chris is finally brought back."

Don gulped, as Chef stepped towards him. The other competitors watched on. "Well, if you guys are doing that," Gwen spoke up. "We're just gonna head out."

Chef didn't look up at them, so the competitors decided to just leave. Don quickly came up with an idea, and ran to them. "You guys have got to help me. I've been a much better host than Chris. That's gotta count for something." He reached over and grabbed Jo's wrist.

Jo looked back and pulled her arm away. "Dude, this is your problem, not ours."

"Actually," Chef smirked evilly. "It's _all_ of your problems…" He held up his meatball bazooka. The other competitors turned around and went wide eyed. "Get them." Chef said to the interns.

The interns pulled out their paintball and leech guns. The competitors realized their dire situation and quickly ran off, pushing some of the interns aside. Most of them ended up splitting up, as they ran into the woods. Sanders was running in one direction, but when she saw a certain competitor, she quickly turned. Mike kept running too, trying to catch a glimpse of Zoey. Everyone was moving too frantically for him to see her, so he had no choice but to keep running.

The interns aimed their guns. "Leave them," Chef demanded. "We have what we-" He looked down, now noticing Don wasn't where he was before. Chef looked back up. The competitors, and Don, were all gone, having disappeared among the trees. Chef snarled and he turned to the interns. "Find them! And bring them here!" The interns nodded timidly. As they went into the woods, Chef stopped one of them. "And take this with you." He handed him the meatball launcher. The intern struggled to carry it, but once he did, he headed into the woods. Chef watched them leave, and he snickered to himself.

* * *

Samey was still heading back to the film lot. She had no idea what was happening. As she reached the forest, she could hear the sound of someone running. She stopped, and readied herself.

_Am I really that late to the challenge? _She thought.

The footsteps grew louder. Samey realized the noise was heading towards her. She looked around, before suddenly, Amy ran out of the bush in front of her. Samey went wide eyed, as her sister put her hand against a tree and tried to catch her breath. It took a few moments for her to realize that someone was with her. The two sisters eventually locked eyes, and an awkward silence followed. Neither of them knew what to say. Samey could see Amy's dirty boots and her messed up hair. Something obviously happened.

"What are you doing here?" Samey asked cautiously. "Is there a challenge going on?"

Amy blinked, then a cheeky smile formed across her face. "Wouldn't you like to know, Spare-Amy?" She stood up confidently. "You're always the last to know anything."

Samey gave an annoyed look and rolled her eyes. "Fine." She walked past her sister. "I'll find out myself."

As much as Amy delighted in the idea of Samey running into the interns, her smug face fell, once she realized she'd be all alone. She turned to her sister, somewhat frantically. "Fine, if you want to know, some interns are rioting, or something. It's stupid, but they're trying to get revenge on Don."

Samey stopped, surprised by the revelation, but also by her sister's nervousness. She looked at her briefly, then turned back around. "Alright, I'm gonna go help him."

Now it was Amy's turn to be surprised. "What? Why?"

Samey kept walking. "He's a lot nicer than Chris, and he doesn't deserve something like that to happen to him."

Amy wanted to say how stupid the idea was, but her sister was getting further away. She quickly decided being by herself was a worse situation, so she ran to catch up to her sister. She pretended to act like she wasn't scared, but Samey knew. She couldn't help but smirk.

* * *

Jo soon stopped, once she was sure that no one was chasing her. She was surrounded by trees, all alone. But she soon heard a rustle from the bush behind her. She turned around quickly, preparing for a fight. But she didn't have to as Mike and Gwen ran out from the bush. The two also stopped to catch their breath.

"What the heck is going on?" Jo cried out.

Before Gwen or Mike could answer, Don suddenly ran out of the bush. He tripped forward and landed on his hands. "That stupid Chef," He muttered to himself. "Wait 'til I tell the producers. He'll be fired before-" He looked up, meeting the stares of the three competitors. Gwen walked up, not looking too happy.

"What was that all about?" She demanded. "Is this part of some stupid challenge?"

Don quickly got off the ground and put his hands up. "I swear, I have no idea what's going on. I think Chef's organizing some rebellion against me."

"Could it have anything to do with how you were treating him, and the interns?" Mike asked.

Don just scoffed. "Oh, come on. I've treated them way better than Chris ever did. And I was just making him do his job. The one he's going to lose soon."

"In any case," Gwen interjected. "We can't stay here for too long. We need to find a way out."

"I have an idea," Don pointed. "If we can get to my trailer, I can make a call to the producers and get them to stop all of this."

"Ok," Jo nodded. "Where is it?"

Don's confident smile fell. "It's…" He turned around and pointed. "It's back the way we came."

The three competitors groaned, as they looked where Don was pointing.

* * *

_What am I doing? I could've taken those guys. I've faced Chef before. Heck, he had a chainsaw and I still beat him._

Duncan had been arguing with himself, while he was still running. The more he thought, the more he was regretting not staying behind. It was just a bunch of out of shape interns, after all. Finally, he stopped to catch his breath. He was by himself, and it was quiet. He looked around, still debating if he should go back and sock one of the interns in the jaw. Then he heard a rustling sound. Duncan froze, before turning his head to where he heard the noise. It got a little louder, and closer. Duncan picked up his fists.

But before he could throw a punch, the person revealed themself. Duncan quickly put his hands down, and groaned. "Of course, _you_ followed me."

Sanders gave an awkward look, and stammered. "Uh, yeah. I mean, no. I just…" She started chuckling nervously. "It's just that I...I didn't want you to be by yourself."

The Ex-Con rolled his eyes. "Whatever. I'm gonna head to the trailers and let this stupid thing blow over." He turned and started to walk away. But he stopped and looked around. Sanders couldn't see his face, but had an idea what he was thinking of.

"Do you know which way it is?" She asked, a small smirk crossing her face.

Duncan didn't answer, but Sanders heard a sigh. He soon turned around, and she was met with an annoyed expression. "Do you?" He asked.

Sanders thought for a moment. Then she thought about her talk with Gwen. She smiled at the Ex-Con. "I do. But you're gonna have to tag along if you want to get there."

Sanders could tell Duncan was processing what she said. She was a little disappointed that he didn't immediately take the opportunity to spend some time with her, but like Gwen said, he was very stubborn. Finally, he exhaled. "Fine. Lead the way."

Sanders smirked again, turned right, and walked into the woods. Duncan followed her.

**Confessional (Sanders): **"Ok. To be honest...I had no idea where we were going, but…" She gave an excited look. "I couldn't let that opportunity pass me by."

Static

* * *

As the three competitors, and host, walked through the forest, one looked noticeably upset.

**Confessional (Mike): **He had his elbows on the table, and his hands on his cheeks. "Not being able to talk with Zoey for this long has been...enlightening. It really let me think about how I could let such an awesome girl slip through my fingers." He gave a sad sigh. "I really hope my personalities don't end up coming back because of this. Zoey was the one who kept them down, so maybe if she leaves…" He trailed off, not wanting to finish his sentence.

Static.

Soon, the group found an opening. Thankfully, they were out of the forest. And there in the distance, they could see the trailers. They could also see a few interns scouting, not far from them.

"We should hang out in the trailers until they're gone." Gwen directed

"Don't need to tell me twice." Don quipped

Jo looked at the interns. "I shouldn't have to hide. I can kick all of their asses."

"Don't be stupid, Jo." Gwen glared. She carefully headed towards the trailer. Don and Mike followed closely. Jo reluctantly went inside too.

Gwen quietly opened the door to the girls trailer, making sure it was empty. It was and she signaled for everyone to enter. Don was the first to do so.

"I can't believe he would do something like this." He started to rant. "I mean I totally could, he's a fourth rate assistant, working with a one of a kind host. He's just jealous, that's what he is. If he didn't have an army of interns, I'd fire him and…" As he went on, Gwen and Jo just rolled their eyes.

Mike, on the other hand, looked over to one of the beds. He recognized the bag on it, and cringed. He sat down next to it, and looked at the ground.

"I'm sorry about what happened."

Mike looked up. Gwen was standing a few feet away from him. She gave a sympathetic look. Mike blinked. "Sorry, what?"

"Zoey told me about it." Gwen sighed. "You did the right thing in telling her, but I hope it doesn't…" She trailed off, still feeling guilty.

"It's not your fault, Gwen." Mike reassured. "You made the right call, and I don't blame you for whatever happens.." He tried looking confident. "I'm gonna try to fix this...as hard as it might be." He gave a small smile.

Gwen returned it, but still couldn't help but feel bad.

* * *

The Ex-Con and the Cadet were still walking through the forest...silently. Thankfully, Duncan hadn't asked Sanders if they were actually going in the right direction. But, for Sanders, she would've preferred to be talking about...something. But didn't know when was a good time to speak, or what to say at all.

After a few more minutes of walking, Duncan finally spoke. "I think our best option is to find a roof to keep lookout." Sanders looked back, as Duncan went on. "I doubt any of them would be able to climb up with their short arms."

Sanders chuckled, and was about to respond, when she turned around. She suddenly froze. Duncan looked ahead and saw what she was looking at.

In front of them was a large group of interns. They looked up and noticed the two. Though they didn't seem very intimidating.

"Now what?" One of them whispered.

"Chef said to get them." A blonde one answered. "Should we use our weapons?"

A chubby one nodded his head. "I think so. I'm kinda scared of Chef. If we don't bring back at least one, what will he do to us?" The other interns nodded in agreement and readied their guns.

Sanders seemed nervous, but Duncan stepped forward. "Alright, I don't know about you, but I think I can take them on."

Sanders looked at the interns, then at Duncan. "I'm not sure. They outnumber us, and they have the leech guns. What's stopping them from-" Suddenly, a leech flew by Sanders' nose, missing it by inches. Duncan saw it, and the two looked at the interns. The group was now walking towards them, weapons aimed.

"Alright," Duncan gulped. "They know what they're doing, we should probably go." With that, the two turned around and ran off, leading the interns to give chase. They started firing their paintball, and leechball, guns. A few paintballs struck Sanders in the arm, and she winced slightly. Duncan noticed this. They kept running for a few more seconds, getting pelted a couple more times. Duncan looked back at Sanders, and thought of something. He suddenly stopped, picked up a fallen tree branch and threw it towards the interns. It hit two of them, and they both fell over. The rest of the interns stopped, and looked at them, then at Duncan.

"Hey, what was that for?" A girl yelled. "We were just doing this because Chef told us to."

"Let's get him!"

Duncan turned back around, and ran through the woods. The two fallen interns got up, and they all went after the Ex-Con. Once they were out of sight, Sanders popped her head out from behind a nearby tree. She walked over, and looked to where Duncan ran off. She couldn't believe it.

_Did he...did he do that...to protect me? _

* * *

Samey and Amy's walk had mostly been quiet. Well...with the exception of Amy's occasional passive aggressive remark.

"Did you get us lost again?" She asked snidely. "Like you did in South Dakota?" She started laughing. "Daddy was so mad at you. It took three hours just to get back on the highway..."

As she went on, Samey just rolled her eyes. She'd heard the story many times before, and at this point, was used to it.

All the same, it did hurt her feelings slightly.

Samey looked up, and stopped. She had passed by several trees already, but one of them was different. It had a treehouse on it. It had a tilted roof, two windows in the front and a door. It was painted white, with pink flowers on it. The sound of two girls laughing could be heard from the inside. Maybe they were playing with their dolls? Maybe they were reading books about princesses or knights? Maybe they were doing each other's hair? Or maybe they were-

"Um...excuse me?"

Samey was quickly broken from her trance. She looked around, noticing Amy wasn't behind her anymore. She turned, and saw her sister, standing a few feet ahead of her.

"Are just gonna stand there all day, or what?" Amy barked.

Samey didn't answer. She looked back at the tree. The treehouse was gone, and the only sound she could hear now was some birds chirping. She gave another sad sigh, then continued. She walked past her sister. Amy was confused how downcast her sister was, but didn't say anything about it. She followed soon after.

* * *

Back at the trailers, the girl's door opened slightly. Gwen poked her head out, and she looked around.

"All clear." She whispered. The Goth tiptoed out, followed by Don, Jo and Mike. They inched across the trailer. They peaked their heads out from the side of the trailer. There were no interns in sight, so they kept walking.

"Why didn't you just bring a cell phone with you?" Jo asked Don

Don's eyes went wide. "Actually…" Mike and Gwen suddenly turned around. Don reached into his pocket and pulled out a cell phone.

"Are you kidding me?" Mike blurted out. "You had that the entire time?!"

Don gave a sheepish chuckle. "Yeah...I guess with all the excitement I forgot-" He looked at his phone, frozen. The three competitors waited for a response. After a few more seconds, Don put his phone down, and looked at them. "It's...dead. The battery's dead."

He received glare from the trio, who were about to tell him off when…

"There they are."

The four turned to see a large group of interns, all with weapons in hand. They aimed it towards them, and opened fire.

Don and the competitors turned and ran. They were able to avoid the projectiles for the most part, but they needed a plan.

"Let's split up." Gwen called. "Jo and I go left, Mike and Don go right." They all nodded, and ran back into the woods. Once they were under the cover of the trees, they split off.

After a few seconds of running, Gwen looked back. "I don't see them, maybe we should-"

WHAM

Gwen fell back, having run into something. She rubbed her head. Jo stopped too, and looked at what caused Gwen to fall. "Redhead?"

Gwen opened her eyes and, sure enough, there was Zoey, who was also rubbing her head. "Zoey!" The Goth forgot to be hurt, and jumped up. She wrapped Zoey in an excited hug. She released it soon after. "Where have you been?"

"By myself, mostly." Zoey answered. "I almost ran into a few interns, but they didn't see me."

Gwen smiled. "Well, we're glad to see you." She looked back. "Right, Jo?"

Jo gave a confused look, before shrugging her shoulders. "Ummm...I guess."

* * *

Sanders continued walking down the forest. You can probably guess what she was thinking of.

After she and Duncan had split up, she was too worried to look out for any interns.

_Why would he go off like that? _She thought. _Unless he was trying to protect me…_ This idea actually made her smile a little, but she quickly shook it off. _I hope he's alright…_

As if on cue, Duncan suddenly appeared out of a nearby bush. Sanders jumped back.

The Ex-Con was panting heavily, and lying on the ground. He had leeches all across his back, and he had a few paint blots on his shirt and pants. Sanders quickly ran to him, and helped him up.

"Are you alright?" She asked.

Duncan sat up, chuckling in the process. "Yeah, I'm fine. A little light headed, but that was actually kind of fun."

Sanders was relieved, but also still upset. "You did something really stupid, y'know? You shouldn't have ran off like that."

Duncan laughed again, sounding drunk from the amount of blood that was drained from the leeches. "You sound like Courtney…"

Sanders froze.

**Confessional (Sanders): **She had a big smile on her face. "Did you hear that? He said I sounded like one of his ex-girlfriends!" She jumped a little, in excitement. But she soon stopped, and her smile fell to a look of sudden realization. "Oh...I sound like one of his ex-girlfriends."

* * *

As the two continued through the forest, Amy was _still _berating her sister. At this point, it was starting to get to Samey. They had managed to avoid the interns (even though Samey was sure Amy would give their position away). But, weirdly enough, Samey was thinking about her past memories with Amy. She suddenly stopped. Amy noticed it, and stopped too. She couldn't see her sister's face. She started to get a little worried what was going to happen next.

**Confessional (Samey): **She let out a heavy sigh. "I can't believe I'm about to do this. I really can't." She paused, before taking a deep breath and looking at the camera. "But it's the right thing to do...at least, I think it is."

Static

"Amy," Samey started, turning around. "I'm sick of fighting." Amy raised an eyebrow, as her sister went on. "I'm just tired, alright? I don't want to argue with you anymore." She paused, considering her next words, but Amy spoke first.

"Well, I can't help it if you're a loser." She laughed. "If you want to stop fighting, just admit that I'm the better sister."

"You're the better sister." Came the quick reply. Amy was completely caught off guard by the response. She tried to think of something clever to say, but nothing came out. Samey wasn't done though. "Anything is better than the two of us fighting all the time. I...I just want things to go back to the way they were, when we were kids. And if admitting that you're better than me gets you to not hate me anymore, I'm fine with that." Amy was still processing what was going on. "And I'll make an offer for you too. One you might agree with."

Amy broke from her trance. "And what's that?" She asked, skeptical.

Samey breathed through her nose, and exhaled. "You and I form an alliance. You'll have an extra vote, and I can probably convince Gwen to also vote with me. You'll need it with Duncan and Jo going after you." She paused. "I'll even vote off Gwen, if it comes down to it. And if it comes down to you and me in the finale, I'll...I'll forfeit the challenge and let you win."

"You're gonna give up five million dollars?!" Amy gasped. Her sister just nodded. Amy was still shocked over what was just said, but tried to act like she was unimpressed. "Do you honestly expect me to believe that? After all we've been through?"

Before Samey could say anything, a few interns appeared from behind a bush. They saw the two sisters, and one of them aimed the meatball launcher. Samey noticed that it was pointed in Amy's direction, and she quickly jumped in front. The intern fired, and a large ball of spaghetti and meatball shot out. Samey took the oncoming projectile, as Amy watched, astonished. The spaghetti carried Samey, until she hit a nearby tree. She tried to free herself, but she was stuck. The Twin then looked over to her sister.

"Run!" She yelled.

Amy, who was still shocked over what just happened, decided not to waste anymore time and took off back into the forest. Samey watched her disappear and let out a sigh of relief. But she gulped as she saw the interns closing in on her.

* * *

Gwen, Jo and Zoey were able to avoid being spotted. They were heading towards Don's private trailer.

"I think that's it, over there." Gwen pointed.

Sure enough, they could see a trailer with Don's face on the front of the door. (It actually looked like his picture was taped over a picture of Chris).

The trio looked around for interns, and headed towards the trailer. Gwen went in first, and immediately went for the phone on the table. Jo looked inside.

"Why can't we get a room like this?" She mumbled.

"Well, he is the host." Zoey added, also looking at the interior. The room was fully furnished, and had a nice lounge chair and a fold out bed. "It kinda makes sense that he would have the nicer trailer."

Jo scoffed, and was about to follow up, when they heard a noise from behind them. Jo and Zoey quickly turned around, and readied themselves.

"It's just us." Don said. Mike appeared behind him. He and Zoey briefly locked eyes, before turning awkwardly away. Don walked to Gwen. "Alright, time to kick Chef off the show for good."

"The line is cut." Came the blunt reply.

Don's jaw fell open. "What?"

"The phone line is dead." Gwen repeated, frustrated. "They probably knew we would do something like this."

Don didn't immediately answer, but thought of another idea. "Alright. Our best bet is to head off the set, and find a phone from there. Then we can finally put that ego-maniac back on the unemployment line."

"I have a better idea."

Don's face went pale. He turned around slowly, hoping one of the competitors was playing a joke on him. But they, too, nervously glanced at the doorway.

There was Chef, with a few interns. They all had leechball launchers pointed at the competitors. Chef grinned. "How 'bout you...come with me?"

* * *

Still surrounded by the trees, Sanders was removing the last of the leeches off of Duncan's back. The two had been silent, while also watching for any interns, or Chef. Even though it wasn't what she had imagined, Sanders was enjoying herself.

**Confessional (Sanders): **"Ok...so it's technically not a date, but at least I get to spend some alone time with him." She paused, suddenly becoming more nervous. "It's as good a time as any to give that little push." She looked up. "Please...let this go well."

Static

The Cadet had just finished removing the last leech. She threw it to the side and stood up. Duncan did the same, and turned to face her. "Thanks." He nodded. Sanders smiled back, but when Duncan turned back around, her smile fell. She thought to herself what her next move would be. She took a deep breath and took a few steps forward.

"I don't see any of them," The Ex-Con peered out from the tree. "If we can get our hands on one of leech guns, we can probably take them on." Unbeknownst to him, Sanders was slowing walking up from behind him. "I'm pretty sure it was that chubby one that got me. He's just lucky he had a weapon, otherwise he'd be dead meat." Sanders was now to the side of the Ex-Con. She started leaning closer towards him. "Alright, I think now might be a good time to head out, so let's-"

Sanders pursed her lips, closed her eyes and quickly snuck a kiss on Duncan's cheek.

The Ex-Con went wide eyed and froze. Sanders stepped back, trying to comprehend what she just did. Seconds later, Duncan turned to her, still looking shocked.

Sanders could see his expression, and almost immediately regretted her actions. "Ohmygod, I'm so sorry," She stammered. "I just figured it was the right moment, and I wasn't really thinking straight, and I kinda had an idea that something was going between us, and I thought you'd share the same feeling, and that you were only hiding them to preserve your image, and that..."

As the Cadet continued to blurt out her apology, Duncan just stared blankly. He put his hand to where he was just kissed

**Confessional (Duncan): **"Alright, so out of everyone that I've kissed, or been kissed by on this show, Courtney was an 8, Gwen was a 9, Chef was a 3 and Heather was a 2." He thought for a moment. "Sanders was a…" He trailed off, not sure how to answer.

Static.

As Sanders continued to blabber, Duncan heard the sound of a bush rustling. He looked back. He couldn't see anything, but didn't want to risk being seen. He turned back at the Cadet and put his hands up. "Ok, I get it, please stop." He whispered. Sanders did stop herself and she looked up at Duncan. The Ex-Con looked back to see if he was spotted. Thankfully no one was there, but he didn't want to waste any time. He turned back to Sanders and sighed. "Look...Sanders. I...I think- I'll admit, you're...a pretty cool cop. Probably one of the coolest I've met...and I don't say that about a lot of cops...or any, for that matter. "

Sanders felt her heart racing. She couldn't help but get excited. Was he about to admit it? She held her breath and waited for his response.

"But I don't date cops...it's...it just wouldn't work. I've built up too much of a reputation to do something like that."

The Cadet's excitement and heart was suddenly shattered into a million pieces. Her hopeful smile fell, as did her arms. Duncan could see her face change, and he turned away. "I'm...I'm sorry it had to happen like this, but I didn't want to play this game anymore." He looked, stone-faced, at the fallen Cadet.

Sanders' initial shock turned to sadness. But she wasn't about to show it. She wiped her eyes, and nodded her head. "It's fine...I...I understand. Let's just focus on getting out of here." She walked past the Ex-Con, still trying to put on a brave face.

Duncan watched her go by. Then he looked solemnly down at the ground, and sighed.

* * *

The captured competitors were all sitting in a circle, in the middle of an open field. Don was sitting from a few feet away. It was the same field that Chef had announced his rebellion. A few interns came from behind the trees, pointing their guns at their newly captured competitor. Samey uncomfortably walked in front of them. She was covered in pasta sauce, and meat drippings. Gwen looked up, and saw the sorry state of her friend. The Twin sat next to her.

"Are you alright?" Gwen asked.

Samey turned, but didn't say anything. She looked like something was bothering her. Gwen wasn't sure what it was, but didn't get the chance to ask.

"What are you going to do, Chef?" Don asked, annoyed.

Chef faced him. Behind where he was standing, some interns were setting up a camera on a tripod. The rebellious co-host smirked. "What I should've done when you first got here." He turned away. "Once the interns finish setting up, I'll be making a little ransom video." He spun around, and angrily pointed at the current host. "You shouldn't even be here. You don't deserve to be the host of anything."

Don defiantly stood up. "I brought this show back from the dead. Ridonculous Race reminded the producers just how successful Total Drama could be. But I don't get why they still decided to bring back a two-bit host."

Some of the competitors snickered at this, which resulted in a sharp glare from Chef. He looked back down at Don. "Well, if it makes you feel any better…" A smirk crept across his face. "...You'll be the star of a new show."

Don raised an eyebrow. "W-What show?"

Chef grabbed the host's wrist, and pulled him towards the camera set up. "I'm gonna make a video for the producers. If they don't bring back Chris, I'm gonna humiliate you on international television. The whole world will see you for the fool you are."

Don's eyes went wide. "Hey, I've got a reputation to keep up." He tried pulling away, but Chef's grip was too strong.

Chef chuckled. "I've had a few ideas ready. We're all gonna take shots at you with the leech guns.."

Before Don could protest again, the wind suddenly picked up. Chef stopped, and shielded his eyes. The other competitors did the same, and they looked up. A helicopter had suddenly appeared, hovering low to the ground. Chef looked confused. Soon the chopper landed, and the door opened. Out stepped a figure. Chef, Don, the interns and the competitors all gasped.

"Well, well, well..."

It was Chris.

Chef was in too much of a shock, and he released his grip. Don stepped back, also surprised. But he quickly hid it, once he saw Chris heading towards him.

"It's good to be back." He took a deep breath through his nose, and exhaled. "I missed this place." He first looked at Chef, smiled, and nodded. Chef tried to hold back a smile, but it was clearly showing. Then Chris turned to the host, and smugly smirked. "I knew this show would fall apart with me gone, but I didn't think you'd screw up this badly."

Don didn't look impressed. "Didn't you lose this job, or something?"

Chris' smirk only grew. "That's the thing, Donnie. I'm back. The producers are unsuspending me, and I'm here to take back what's mine." Don didn't respond. He was secretly bummed at the fact that he would no longer be hosting. Chris continued to mock him. "Don't be too sad, maybe they'll do a season two of your spinoff and you can have something to keep yourself occupied." He mockingly patted Don on the shoulder. "Then you can go back to playing second fiddle to a real host, like me."

Don was annoyed, but continued to act unphased. Then he had an idea. He looked back at the other competitors, smirked, then turned back to Chris. "Alright, Chris. You win." He pretended to sound intimidated. "I guess you can tell the competitors who won the challenge."

Chris suddenly stopped laughing. "What? What are you talking about?"

This caught the attention of the other competitors, and they started to stand up. Don continued. "Oh, don't act like you didn't know. I wasn't allowed to tell the competitors about the 'interns rioting' challenge. I guess you can announce the winner."

Chris didn't know what to say. He started to stammer, as he noticed the glares from the other competitors.

"What was that?"

Chris and Don looked. There was Sanders, Amy and a pissed off looking Duncan heading towards the two. The Ex-Con walked right up to the newly returned host. "Are you saying I got shot with paintballs and leeches because of a stupid challenge?!"

Chris was at a loss for words. The competitors started surrounding him, glaring and demanding an answer. Suddenly, they stopped when they heard the helicopter again. Everyone turned, to see the heli taking off again. And there was Don, sitting in the back, mockingly waving at the returned host. Soon the chopper flew off, and was out of sight.

Chris realized his issue, and quickly came up with an idea. "Yes! This was a challenge, and uhh...you all won. Therefore...no elimination today. You all get to stay."

The competitors looked annoyed at him, but didn't speak. They soon figured it wasn't worth it, and went to the trailers. Chris sighed with relief. Once the competitors were out of sight, Chef walked up to him.

"It's good to have you back, Chris." He smiled.

The Host raised an eyebrow. "What's this Chef? When did you become so sappy?"

Chef's smile soon fell to a dull glare. He turned to walk away, but stopped. He suddenly turned back around, and locked Chris in a hug, releasing it, almost immediately.

Chris was surprised, and just looked at Chef. His co-host walked off. Now, by himself, Chris smiled.

"Missed you too, Chef."

* * *

It was early afternoon, but most of the competitors were tired after the day's events. The guys had decided to go and take a nap and most of the girls did too. Gwen was heading to the trailer to do just that. But as the trailer came into sight, the Goth saw something else. At the picnic table in front, sat Sanders. She looked down in the dumps. Gwen frowned and walked up to her friend.

"Hey, Sanders." She said carefully. "What's wrong?"

Sanders looked up. Now that she was closer, Gwen could see just how upset she really was. Sanders wiped her eyes and choked out a response. "I...I took your advice about...giving Duncan that little push, but…" She gulped. "It didn't work. He...he says he doesn't date cops." She slunked down, resting her chin on her forearms.

Gwen just stared, somewhat shocked, but also annoyed. She put a comforting hand on Sanders. "I'm...sorry that it didn't go well. But I-" Gwen stopped. She took another look at the depressed Cadet. She wanted to tell her that Duncan was still trying to hide his feelings, but figured it would only make things worse. She sighed. "If you need me, I'll be in the trailer." She didn't get a response. As she headed inside, The Goth frowned.

**Confessional (Gwen): **She looked pissed. "That...dunderhead. Why can't Duncan put his pride aside for one second and just admit he likes Sanders?" She thought for a moment, still annoyed. "I didn't want to get involved, but...I can't let Sanders tackle this alone."

Static.

* * *

Later, Amy was sitting in front of the girls trailer. She was still thinking about what her sister had said. _Could she really be willing to give up five million dollars? _She thought. She remembered another thing her sister said. _When we were kids…_

Amy looked up. Suddenly, she could see two little girls walking towards her. They had their arms across their shoulders, and were laughing as they walked.

Amy turned away, scoffing to herself. She could still hear the giggling though. She closed her eyes and tried to ignore it.

"Amy?"

The Twin broke from her trance, and she looked up. There was her sister, standing in front of her. She only had a towel wrapped around her. Her hair was still wet. The two little girls were gone. The two awkwardly stared at each other. Finally, it was Samey who broke the silence.

"Did you think about my offer?" She asked

Amy didn't give an answer immediately. She wanted to say 'no,' but something was telling her to think it over again. For whatever reason, it was a really hard decision to make. After a few more seconds, she looked at Samey. "Do you swear to stay loyal to me, and only me?"

Samey simply nodded her head. "I swear." She held out her hand.

Amy looked at it, still debating if it was a good idea. Reluctantly, she pulled her hand up, and the two shook hands. Samey smiled. Amy was still suspicious, but allowed herself to smirk.

The screen suddenly paused on their hand shake and zoomed out. It was revealed that Chris was watching them the whole time, from the editing studio. He turned to the camera. "Wow. I'm back for, not even, twenty minutes and we already have a huge implication for the next episode. Let's see how long this alliance lasts. What will become of Mike and Zoey? How will the guys survive another day with the numbers game against them, and will Duncan and Sanders ever actually become a thing? At this point, probably not. But find out, next time on...Total...Drama...Legends! I'm back baby!"

* * *

**Another chapter down. This one was fun, and a little different from the others. Chef forcing a rebellion, to bring back Chris, was an idea I had since the beginning. I think it came out pretty good. But I'll let you be the judge of that. I'll leave you with a quick question though: Who's going next? Next chapter will be an elimination round, with a little twist to keep things interesting. I won't tell you here, but stay tuned. **

**In the meantime, stay safe and peace be with ya. **

* * *

Merge: Amy, Duncan, Gwen, Jo, Mike, Samey, Sanders and Zoey

Placement:

22nd: Sierra

21st: Lightning

20th: Tyler

19th: Cody

18th: Heather

17th: Alejandro

16th: Owen

15th: Macarthur

14th: Scott

13th: Courtney

12th: Dawn

11th: Jasmine

10th: Leshawna

9th: Noah


End file.
